Ion mass outflow rate in Saturn's inner magnetosphere

Details Ion mass outflow rate in Saturn's inner magnetosphere Ion mass outflow rate in Saturn's inner magnetosphere

Dec 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmsm23a1911c&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #SM23A-1911

Physics

[2756] Magnetospheric Physics / Planetary Magnetospheres, [2760] Magnetospheric Physics / Plasma Convection, [5443] Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets / Magnetospheres

Scientific paper

Since the Cassini spacecraft arrived in Saturn orbit, one of its most prominent discoveries has been the neutral plume containing water molecules and ice grains being constantly ejected from the south pole of the icy satellite Enceladus. The neutral molecules form a narrow torus around the orbit of Enceladus, scatter farther out to fill Saturn’s inner magnetosphere beyond ~ 7 - 8 RS [Johnson et al., 2006], and provide the major plasma source for Saturn's magnetosphere through electron-impact ionization. Multiple previous studies have been devoted to estimating both the neutral source rate [e.g., Hansen et al., 2006; Waite et al., 2006; Smith et al., 2010; Teolis et al., 2010; Dong et al., 2010] and the ion source rate [e.g., Tokar et al., 2006; Pontius and Hill, 2006]. In our recent study, we have obtained a global estimate of the plasma mass outflow rate of ~ 280 kg/s [Chen et al., 2010] based on Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) observations, consistent with previous independent estimates. Comparing this with recent estimates of the neutral source rate (~ 1028 /s = 300 kg/s), our results indicate that the ion mass production rate is a significant fraction of the neutral mass production rate. This implies that a large fraction of the neutrals are lost as plasma ions, not as fast neutrals following charge exchange.

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