A Comparison of CAPS Composition Measurements of the Plasma near Enceladus with Predictions of a Chemical Model

Details A Comparison of CAPS Composition Measurements of the Plasma near Enceladus with Predictions of a Chemical Model A Comparison of CAPS Composition Measurements of the Plasma near Enceladus with Predictions of a Chemical Model

Dec 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008agufm.p23b1382g&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2008, abstract #P23B-1382

Physics

2419 Ion Chemistry And Composition (0335), 6026 Ionospheres (2459), 6280 Saturnian Satellites

Scientific paper

The Cassini spacecraft has flown by Saturn's moon Enceladus several times, with the most recent (designated 080 EN) on August 11, 2008 at an altitude of 54 km. At least two additional close flybys are planned. The surprising discovery of the jets of water/ice from the southern hemisphere of this moon has stimulated considerable discussion regarding the possible nature and especially temperature of the internal reservoir for these jets. A possible explanation that has been suggested for the apparently liquid water internal to such a cold, icy body involves the possible presence of small amounts of species such as ammonia that would affect the melting point. Measurements during previous flybys have hinted at the existence of such species. We have been analyzing the ion composition data from the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) Ion Mass Spectrometer obtained during the recent Enceladus flybys and comparing the results with those of a chemical network model (Boice, this session). This model can serve as an aid in interpreting the CAPS measurements in cases where there is some ambiguity in species assignment in the data. In addition to the ubiquitous water group ions we find nitrogen and some of its hydrides.

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