Physics
Scientific paper
May 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006agusm.p43b..06a&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2007, abstract #P43B-06
Physics
6275 Saturn, 2724 Magnetopause And Boundary Layers, 2736 Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions (2431), 2740 Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics, 2764 Plasma Sheet
Scientific paper
The Cassini spacecraft has spent over 18 months in orbit at Saturn and has collected a wealth of information from the noon, dawn, and post-midnight local-time sectors. In this paper we distil these data and present a global overview of the observations. We will show that: A) The current sheet (and hence magnetic equator) is displaced northward at all local-times beyond 15RS, and that this can be interpreted as the effect of solar-wind forcing. This has clear implications for particle observations made in the equatorial plane. B) A quasi-dipolar region exists at all local-times inside of approximately 16S, but tail-ward of 9 SLT the field lines stretch out forming a magnetodisc structure. We discuss the stress balance in this current sheet. C) Since Saturn's internal field is very nearly axisymmetric, the current sheet is typically considered to be planar and symmetric, reflecting this axisymmetry. The presence of spin-periodic phenomena challenges this view and we consider warping of the current sheet as a function of longitude, local-time and radial distance, as a consequence of these periodicities. D) Modelling of the magnetopause [Arridge et al. (2006) submitted to JGR; Achilleos et al. (2006) manuscript in preparation] reflects the formation of this current sheet and we show that the average magnetopause lies at a much further distance than currently thought. E) Magnetic field-lines are largely swept back at all observed local-times. We compare and contrast these observations with those made by the Voyager and Pioneer spacecraft at Saturn, and with the current state of knowledge of Jupiter's magnetosphere. Dynamical variations away from this global overview are described.
Achilleos Nicholas
Arridge Christopher S.
Cassini MAG Team
Dougherty K. M. K. M.
Khurana Krishan K.
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