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Evidence for rotationally driven plasma transport in Saturn's magnetosphere
André, N.; Lewis, G. R.; Coates, A. J. +7 more
Radial convective transport of plasma in a rotation-dominated magnetosphere implies alternating longitudinal sectors of cooler, denser plasma moving outward and hotter, more tenuous plasma moving inward. The Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) has provided dramatic new evidence of this process operating in the magnetosphere of Saturn. The inward tr…
Energetic ion acceleration in Saturn's magnetotail: Substorms at Saturn?
Krupp, N.; Dougherty, M. K.; Krimigis, S. M. +11 more
The Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) Ion and Neutral Camera (INCA) on the Cassini spacecraft has recorded abrupt increases in energetic neutral atom flux coming from the general direction of Saturn's magnetotail. These bursts of ion activity in the tail are well correlated with enhancements in the Saturn kilometric radiation. Given the sim…
Energetic particle injections in Saturn's magnetosphere
Krupp, N.; Krimigis, S. M.; Mitchell, D. G. +9 more
Measurements from the Cassini Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) beginning in July 2004 reveal that sudden planetward injections of energetic ions (5-200 keV) and electrons (20-200 keV) over confined regions of azimuth are pervasive events in Saturn's magnetosphere over the radial range of 3.8 to 11.2 Saturn radii (RS). Saturn is …
Properties of local plasma injections in Saturn's magnetosphere
André, N.; Coates, A. J.; Kurth, W. S. +6 more
Electron and ion drift dispersion events are often observed by the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) in the inner magnetosphere of Saturn (5 to 10 RS). These events appear to result from azimuthally-limited injections of plasma and persist for at least several hours. During this time, the events can be analyzed to obtain information on…
In situ observations of a solar wind compression-induced hot plasma injection in Saturn's tail
Coates, A. J.; Krupp, N.; Dougherty, M. K. +5 more
During the Saturn orbit insertion (SOI) fly-through of the Cassini spacecraft, Saturn's magnetosphere underwent a significant corotating interaction region (CIR) related compression. Such compressions have recently been suggested to produce rapid bursts of tail reconnection, enhanced Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR), and consequent auroral dynami…
Titan's ionosphere: Model comparisons with Cassini Ta data
Coates, A. J.; Luhmann, J. G.; Wahlund, J. -E. +13 more
On October 26, 2004, during its first encounter with Titan (Ta), the Cassini Orbiter moved from the dayside to the nightside with a closest approach altitude of 1174 km. In situ measurements of the main part of Titan's ionosphere were made by the Langmuir probe on the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Experiment (RPWS), while the Ion and Neutral Mass …
Quasi thermal noise spectroscopy in the inner magnetosphere of Saturn with Cassini/RPWS: Electron temperatures and density
Moncuquet, Michel; Meyer-Vernet, Nicole; Lecacheux, Alain +2 more
On 1 July 2004, the Cassini spacecraft performed its Saturn orbit insertion, twice crossing the equatorial plane between the G and F rings. The radio HF receiver observed a peak at the upper-hybrid frequency and weakly banded emissions having well-defined minima at gyroharmonics. We show that through most of the encounter, these emissions do not r…
Equatorial electron density measurements in Saturn's inner magnetosphere
Gurnett, D. A.; Persoon, A. M.; Dougherty, M. K. +4 more
Upper hybrid resonance emissions detected by the Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument on the Cassini spacecraft are used to obtain electron densities on five equatorial orbits of Saturn at radial distances ranging from 3 to 9 saturnian radii (RS). The electron density profiles for these orbits show a highly repeatable radial …
Periodic intensity variations in global ENA images of Saturn
Krimigis, S. M.; Mitchell, D. G.; Paranicas, C. +4 more
During select time periods in orbit about Saturn, Cassini's Ion and Neutral Camera (INCA) has detected a periodic global ENA signal. Images taken during such periods reveal the presence of a rotating source component in addition to a steady-state component; both components have peak brightness in the midnight sector, when viewed from near dawn. We…
The inner magnetosphere of Saturn: Cassini RPWS cold plasma results from the first encounter
Gurnett, D. A.; Persoon, A. M.; Hospodarsky, G. B. +12 more
We present new results from the inner magnetosphere of Saturn obtained by the Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) investigation onboard Cassini around the period of the Saturn orbit injection (July 1, 2004). Plasma wave electric field emissions, voltage sweeps by the Langmuir probe (LP) and radio sounder data were used to infer the cold plasma (&…