Electrostatic charging of the rings of Saturn - A parameter study

Details Electrostatic charging of the rings of Saturn - A parameter study Electrostatic charging of the rings of Saturn - A parameter study

Jun 1984

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1984jgr....89.3829i&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 89, June 1, 1984, p. 3829-3836.

Physics

Plasma Physics

13

Diurnal Variations, Electric Potential, Electrostatic Charge, Plasma Physics, Saturn Rings, Field Aligned Currents, Planetary Ionospheres, Plasma Density, Saturn Atmosphere, Solar Planetary Interactions, Trapped Particles, Saturn, Rings, Electrostatic Effects, Diurnal Variations, Plasma, Source, Absorption, Density, Thermal Effects, Entrapment, Impacts, Ionosphere, Flow, Surface, Flux, Theoretical Studies, Calculations

Scientific paper

Diurnal variation of the electrostatic potential of the rings of Saturn is considered by examining a wide range of possible combinations of plasma sources and sinks. It is shown that because of the presence of the ring absorption effect, the ambient thermal plasma density is kept very low (less than 0.01/cu cm). If no trapping or thermalization of the photoelectrons, ionospheric plasma, and impact plasma generated by meteoroid impact occurs, the ring surface potential could vary between 4-8 V (dayside and nightside) and -7 V (shadow cone). The operation of trapping the field-aligned plasma flow changes the time variation of the ring surface potential only slightly. It is the variations of the peak ionospheric plasma flux and of the impact plasma which have more significant effect. The impact plasma, in particular, can change the ring surface potential from a value of -7.3 V to a small but positive value if its flux reaches about one-million ions/sq cm s.

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