Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.6405c&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #64.05
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The H2O vapor ejected from Enceladus' south pole forms a Saturn-encircling cloud of neutrals and plasma. Two decades of HST observations, modeling and, more recently, data from multiple Cassini instruments, suggest that H2O, and its dissociation and ionization products, are spread throughout the Saturnian system via a number of processes. Previous modeling attributed the spreading to the interaction of the ejected neutrals with the magnetospheric plasma, primarily by ion-neutral charge exchange collisions (e.g., Johnson et al., APJ, 2006). However, Farmer (2009, Icarus), using a fluid model of the cloud, suggested that neutral-neutral collisions might account for the observed spreading. We have constructed a Direct Simulation Monte Carlo model to compare the various processes that act on the H2O cloud, including those initiated by the plasma, solar UV photons, and neutral-neutral collisions. We have found that the combination neutral-neutral collisions and charge exchange spread the cloud more than either process alone. We also describe the spatial distributions of H2O and its dissociation products, OH and O.
Cassidy Timothy A.
Johnson Robert E.
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