Injections at Saturn: Bulk parameters and pitch angle distributions of electrons

Details Injections at Saturn: Bulk parameters and pitch angle distributions of electrons Injections at Saturn: Bulk parameters and pitch angle distributions of electrons

Dec 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agufmsm23a0282g&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2006, abstract #SM23A-0282

Physics

2721 Field-Aligned Currents And Current Systems (2409), 2730 Magnetosphere: Inner, 2732 Magnetosphere Interactions With Satellites And Rings, 2740 Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics, 2756 Planetary Magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6033)

Scientific paper

We present observations of apparently inward plasma injections from several orbits of the Cassini spacecraft about the planet Saturn. These injections are characterized by a significant (and often rapid) change in temperature, density, and magnetic field relative to the surrounding plasma in the E-ring torus. Bulk parameters (temperature and number density), pitch angle distributions, and magnetic fields were obtained both inside and outside these injection regions, using electron data obtained by the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) instrument, and field data obtained by the Dual Technique Magnetometer (MAG) instrument. Residuals of the plasma parameters and magnetic fields seem to be organized by radius and magnetic local time (MLT). Injections measured outside 7 Saturn radii and east of 2100 MLT are typically characterized by temperatures greater than approximately 100 eV, strong density depletions, and magnetic field enhancements (compared to the surrounding plasma). Injections measured at smaller radii and elsewhere in MLT have temperatures below 100 eV, with small positive or zero density residuals, and with magnetic field reductions. The clear separation into two categories of injections suggests the possibility that there are two distinct mechanisms causing injections. It is also possible that the spatial organization reflects the fact that inward-moving injected plasma evolves to become more like the surrounding E-ring plasma. Analysis of the pitch angle distributions and magnetic fields suggests that associated with the injections are current systems which may drive the inward motion. Finally, a large number of pitch angle distributions from the surrounding plasma are analyzed to test the hypothesis that E-ring plasma participates in a general outwelling with localized plasma sources at one or more of Saturn's moons.

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