Cassini Observations of Saturn's Dawn-Magnetotail Region and their Relation to Models of Saturn's Aurora: Preliminary results

Details Cassini Observations of Saturn's Dawn-Magnetotail Region and their Relation to Models of Saturn's Aurora: Preliminary results Cassini Observations of Saturn's Dawn-Magnetotail Region and their Relation to Models of Saturn's Aurora: Preliminary results

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufmsm31c..05s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #SM31C-05

Physics

2704 Auroral Phenomena (2407), 2744 Magnetotail, 2756 Planetary Magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6033), 2760 Plasma Convection (2463), 6275 Saturn

Scientific paper

Using Cassini plasma and magnetic field observations from the dawn meridian of Saturn's outer magnetosphere to Saturn's magnetotail region, we investigate the applicability of the centrifugal instability model by Sittler et al. [2006] for Saturn's auroral response to the solar wind, versus the reconnection model of Saturn's aurora by Cowley et al. [2005]. We use Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) Ion Mass Spectrometer (IMS) and Electron Plasma Spectrometer (ELS) observations to characterize the plasma environment. ELS and magnetometer observations are used to map out the morphology of the outer magnetosphere from dawn to midnight local time. IMS observations are used to measure plasma flow velocities from which one can infer rotation versus convective flows. IMS composition measurements are used to trace the source of plasma from the inner magnetosphere (protons, H2+ and water group ions) versus an external solar wind source (protons and He++ ions). A critical parameter for both models is the strength of the convection electric field with respect to the rotational electric field for the large scale magnetosphere. Is there a significant return flow from the magnetotail? Pitch angle and local time distributions for both plasma and energetic particles play important roles as discriminators. If the magnetosphere tends to conserve angular momentum as suggested by Sittler et al. [2006], then we expect to see an anti-correlation between rotational flow component and radial flow velocities. All will be investigated. [1] Sittler, Blanc and Richardson, J. Geophys. Res., 111, A06208, doi:10.1029/2005JA011191, 2006. [2] Cowley et al., J. Geophys. Res., 110, A02201, doi:10.1029/2004JA010796, 2005.

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