Observations of molecular oxygen ions in Saturn's inner magnetosphere

Details Observations of molecular oxygen ions in Saturn's inner magnetosphere Observations of molecular oxygen ions in Saturn's inner magnetosphere

Oct 2008

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2008georl..3520103m&link_type=abstract

Geophysical Research Letters, Volume 35, Issue 20, CiteID L20103

Physics

10

Magnetospheric Physics: Planetary Magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6033), Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetosphere Interactions With Satellites And Rings, Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects: Saturnian Satellites, Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetosphere: Inner, Planetary Sciences: Fluid Planets: Tori And Exospheres

Scientific paper

We present an analysis of molecular oxygen ion (O2 +) abundance in Saturn's inner magnetosphere based on observations made with the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS). Using data summed over 23 orbits, we resolve and isolate O2 + counts from the tail of the water group ion mass distribution (W+ [O+, OH+, H2O+, H3O+]) and from background sources. O2 + was initially estimated at ~1-2% of the total ion population in the inner magnetosphere based on CAPS data from the Saturn orbital insertion pass. Through refined analysis techniques, we have found O2 + to account for just above 0.3% of all W+ ions at L = 4.5, with only minor fluctuations in relative density out to L = 7.5 - 8.0. Beyond L = 7.5, the relative O2 +/W+ abundance exhibits a statistically significant increase through L = 10.5, which may indicate a neutral O2 source in the vicinity of Rhea.

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