Direct observation of warping in the plasma sheet of Saturn

Abstract

The ENA images from the Ion Neutral CAmera (INCA) on the Cassini spacecraft are projected onto the noon-midnight plane of Sun-Saturn orbital coordinates, and a composite ``image'' of Saturn's plasma sheet is constructed from dawn-side observations of 20-50 keV hydrogens obtained from days 352 to 361 in 2004. The maxima in the intensity contours define the center of the plasma sheet in the noon-midnight plane. This plasma sheet surface displays a distinct bending or ``warping'' above Saturn's equatorial plane at radial distances of beyond ~15 R_S on the nightside. On the dayside, the plasma sheet lies close to the equator all the way to the magnetopause. The observed warping agrees with the ``bowl'' model derived from measurements of Saturn's magnetic field, but fits more closely a simple third-order polynomial.