Studying the dynamic influence of the ionospheric and plume components of Enceladus' exosphere through simulations and observations

Physics – Plasma Physics

Scientific paper

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[2732] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetosphere Interactions With Satellites And Rings, [2753] Magnetospheric Physics / Numerical Modeling, [6280] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Saturnian Satellites, [7823] Space Plasma Physics / Ionization Processes

Scientific paper

The interaction of Saturn’s magnetosphere with Enceladus provides an exciting natural laboratory for expanding our understanding of charge-neutral interactions and their impact on mass and momentum loading of the system and the associated magnetic perturbations. However, the presence of variable jets of material that change in location and flux provide a dynamic and challenging environment to model due to the number of parameters that can change between spacecraft observations. In this paper we present results from a suite of simulations designed to isolate the predictable vs. variable components of the interaction as viewed by the Cassini CAPS instrument. These simulations treat several ion and neutral species in a multi-fluid modeling scheme that incorporates both the plasma dynamics and neutral-ion interactions responsible for energy and momentum transfer between the neutral and ion fluids. Due to the multi-fluid infrastructure of the simulations, we can separately track ions sourced from Encealdus’ diffuse ionosphere, ions from Saturn’s magnetosphere, and ions generated via charge-exchange and other ionization processes within the neutral plume. Hence, by examining in detail the observable effects of the interaction of Saturn’s magnetospheric plasma with a range of potential ionospheric densities and then a range of plume morphologies, we hope to isolate the features created by the variable plume from the predictable features that arise from the ionospheric coupling. These simulations are compared in detail to and benchmarked against the observations made by the Cassini CAPS instrument during several recent Enceladus flybys.

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