Outer magnetospheric structure: Jupiter and Saturn compared

Details Outer magnetospheric structure: Jupiter and Saturn compared Outer magnetospheric structure: Jupiter and Saturn compared

Apr 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011jgra..11604224w&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research, Volume 16, Issue A4, CiteID A04224

Physics

Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics, Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetosphere: Outer, Magnetospheric Physics: Planetary Magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6033), Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Magnetospheres (2756), Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets: Magnetic Fields And Magnetism

Scientific paper

The Jovian dayside magnetosphere is traditionally divided into three different regions with the outermost region, colloquially referred to as the cushion region, existing between the outer edge of the magnetodisk and the magnetopause. Magnetometer and plasma data from 6 different spacecraft are used to determine the average properties of this region, including its characteristic thickness at the subsolar point, and these observations are compared with data from the Saturnian magnetosphere obtained using the Pioneer, Voyager, and Cassini spacecraft. Significant differences are found in the structure of the two rotationally driven magnetospheres with the Saturnian system showing little evidence for the cushion region seen at Jupiter. These differences are discussed in terms of the parameter regimes pertinent to each planet, and the potential effect of magnetodisk warping at Saturn is discussed. It is tentatively suggested that while the Jovian magnetodisk typically breaks down several tens of planetary radii inside the magnetopause, thus allowing plasma-depleted flux tubes beyond it to relax into the cushion region configuration, the Saturnian magnetodisk may persist until much closer to the magnetospheric boundary. A number of observational tests of this hypothesis are proposed, and the need for improved observations at both planets is stressed.

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