Magnetospheric interaction with Saturn's icy satellites

Details Magnetospheric interaction with Saturn's icy satellites Magnetospheric interaction with Saturn's icy satellites

Dec 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005agufm.p52a..01m&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2005, abstract #P52A-01

Physics

2756 Planetary Magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6033), 2774 Radiation Belts, 5737 Magnetospheres (2756), 6275 Saturn, 6280 Saturnian Satellites

Scientific paper

Despite their small size and lack of bound atmospheres, data obtained by the Cassini spacecraft suggest Saturn's icy moons strongly modify the magnetosphere. Analyses of Pioneer and Voyager data have indicated that the moons, for instance, strongly absorb energetic charged particles, with differential rates by species and energy. What was not previously appreciated was the extent to which gas and dust associated with the moons (especially Enceladus) act as a source of magnetospheric plasma and act as a sink for energetic ions. These processes have created a depleted, time variable, patchy inner magnetosphere in some charged particle species. Furthermore, the radiation belts of Saturn are relatively weak compared with Earth and Jupiter. Data taken near Enceladus have revealed a much stronger interaction between that satellite and the corotating magnetic field than had been anticipated -- suggesting a major source of gas and dust. Because in our new view the moons so strongly control the charged particle contents of the magnetosphere, there is an important feedback loop between the characteristics of their surfaces and the magnetosphere. This paper will review some of these effects, and discuss some new insights into the role of the icy moons in Saturn's magnetosphere.

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