Saturn's interaction with the solar wind: Clues from the thermal ion properties on the dawn flank

Details Saturn's interaction with the solar wind: Clues from the thermal ion properties on the dawn flank Saturn's interaction with the solar wind: Clues from the thermal ion properties on the dawn flank

Dec 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsm14a..06d&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SM14A-06

Physics

[2724] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetopause And Boundary Layers, [2740] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics, [2756] Magnetospheric Physics / Planetary Magnetospheres, [2784] Magnetospheric Physics / Solar Wind/Magnetosphere Interactions

Scientific paper

The dawn flank of Saturn's magnetopause harbors many clues regarding how the solar wind interacts with Saturn's magnetosphere. The paucity of magnetic reconnection signatures (i.e. flux transfer events) in the Cassini data supports the argument that large-scale, Dungey-cycle reconnection does not play a dominant role in Saturn's solar wind interaction. Observations of plasmoids in the tail support an internally-driven Vasyliunas cycle and associated tail reconnection. However, the auroral brightening and filling of the polar cap during solar wind compressions suggest that the solar wind is an important external trigger of tail reconnection. One of the key components of Saturn's solar wind interaction that may play a crucial role are the so-called viscous processes at the magnetopause boundary. The shear-flow-driven Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) is an example of how mass, momentum, energy, and magnetic flux can be transported across the magnetopause boundary. We will discuss implications of viscous processes in Saturn's solar wind interaction and examine the thermal plasma data on the dawn flank (where KHI is likely to occur) to look for signatures that may elucidate processes associated with Dungey-, Vasyliunas-, and/or viscous-driven flows. The thermal plasma data analysis [Wilson et al., 2011] is based on forward-modeling of the Cassini CAPS ion observations. The modeled plasma properties include density, temperature and velocity for protons and heavy magnetospheric ions (OH+) in both the magnetosphere and sheath regions (as determined by electron and magnetometer data).

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