Cassini observations of a Kelvin-Helmholtz vortex in Saturn's outer magnetosphere

Details Cassini observations of a Kelvin-Helmholtz vortex in Saturn's outer magnetosphere Cassini observations of a Kelvin-Helmholtz vortex in Saturn's outer magnetosphere

Jul 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010jgra..11507225m&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research, Volume 115, Issue A7, CiteID A07225

Physics

13

Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Saturn, Planetary Sciences: Fluid Planets: Magnetospheres (2756), Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetopause And Boundary Layers, Magnetospheric Physics: Mhd Waves And Instabilities (2149, 6050, 7836), Magnetospheric Physics: Field-Aligned Currents And Current Systems (2409)

Scientific paper

We present Cassini observations of a plasma vortex in Saturn's dayside outer magnetosphere. The vortex encounter took place on 13 December 2004 as Cassini was travelling toward the planet. The spacecraft crossed the magnetopause 3 times, before being immersed in the low-latitude boundary layer. During the transition between the boundary layer and the magnetosphere proper, the spacecraft observed deflected boundary layer plasma, a twisted magnetic field topology, and high-energy (>20 keV) directional electron fluxes. These observations are consistent with an encounter with a vortex on the inner edge of the boundary layer, an interface that is expected to be susceptible to the growth of the Kelvin-Helmholtz (K-H) instability due to its low magnetic shear. The size of the vortex is determined to be at least 0.55 RS, and a simple model of the current system resulting from the formation of the vortex is proposed. The possible acceleration mechanisms responsible for the high-energy electrons are discussed. The identification of the structure provides compelling evidence of the operation of the nonlinear K-H instability at Saturn's morning magnetospheric boundaries and has implications for our understanding of the transfer of energy and momentum between the solar wind and Saturn's magnetosphere.

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