Cassini Initial Results: Ion Cyclotron Waves in the Inner Saturn Magnetosphere

Other

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

Scientific paper

The Cassini magnetic field investigation detected two very different types of transverse fluctuations during the Saturn Orbit Insertion pass, in the frequency range that is resonant with heavy ions. Neither wave has an analogue in the Galileo measurements at Jupiter. The first wave phenomenon was seen inbound about 6 Rs planetocentric, surrounding a significant diamagnetic depression of unknown origin. The waves were almost purely transverse with little compressional component but they were also linearly polarized and not circularly polarized as expected for ion resonance. A second period of transverse waves appeared outbound from about 4.26 Rs to 5.27 Rs 5 hours after the orbit insertion burn. These waves were close to the local gyro frequency for ions with mass to charge ratios from that of singly ionized water to singly ionized carbon dioxide. These waves were left-hand elliptically polarized, propagating at a finite angle to the magnetic field with a smaller but significant compressional component. The mass range of these ions coincide with the expected major components of the exhaust of Cassini's injection engine. Thus these observations appear to be the first detection of the artificial production of waves in a magnetosphere other than that of the Earth.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

Cassini Initial Results: Ion Cyclotron Waves in the Inner Saturn Magnetosphere does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Cassini Initial Results: Ion Cyclotron Waves in the Inner Saturn Magnetosphere, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cassini Initial Results: Ion Cyclotron Waves in the Inner Saturn Magnetosphere will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1013422

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.