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Cassini Observation of Relativistic Electron Butterfly Distributions in Saturn's Inner Radiation Belts: Evidence for Acceleration by Local Processes

Krupp, N.; Wei, Y.; Roussos, E. +3 more

The morphology of electron pitch angle distributions (PADs) helps to identify dynamic processes in Saturn's magnetosphere. Previous studies demonstrated convective transport being important for relativistic electron acceleration at L > 4 in the inner magnetosphere, whereas closer to Saturn the situation is not as well established. We have inves…

The Statistical Morphology of Saturn's Equatorial Energetic Neutral Atom Emission

Mitchell, D. G.; Paranicas, C.; Badman, S. V. +6 more

Saturn's magnetosphere is an efficient emitter of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs), created through charge exchange of energetic ions with the extended neutral cloud originating from the icy moon Enceladus. We present an analysis using the complete image set captured by Cassini's Ion Neutral Camera to characterize Saturn's average ENA morphology. Co…

Titan's Global Radiant Energy Budget During the Cassini Epoch (2004-2017)

West, Robert A.; Nixon, Conor A.; Fry, Patrick M. +5 more

Radiant energies of planets and moons are of wide interest in the fields of geoscience and planetary science. Based on long-term multiinstrument observations from the Cassini spacecraft, we provide here the first observational study of Titan's global radiant energy budget and its seasonal variations. Our results show that Titan's radiant energy bu…

Properties of Plasmoids Observed in Saturn's Dayside and Nightside Magnetodisc

Coates, A. J.; Wei, Y.; Ye, S. -Y. +7 more

Plasmoid is a key structure for transferring magnetic flux and plasma in planetary magnetospheres. At Earth, plasmoids are key media which transfer energy and mass in the "Dungey Cycle." For giant planets, plasmoids are primarily generated by the dynamic processes associated with "Vasyliunas cycle." It is generally believed that planetary magnetot…

The Cushion Region and Dayside Magnetodisc Structure at Saturn

Dougherty, M. K.; Masters, A.; Achilleos, N. +1 more

A sustained quasi dipolar magnetic field between the current sheet outer edge and the magnetopause, known as a cushion region, has previously been observed at Jupiter, but not yet at Saturn. Using the complete Cassini magnetometer data, the first evidence of a cushion region forming at Saturn is shown. Only five examples of a sustained cushion are…

Lower Surface Temperature at Bright Ephemeral Feature Site on Titan's North Pole

Barnes, Jason W.; Dhingra, Rajani D.; Cottini, Valeria +1 more

We report a temperature difference in one of the regions on Titan that is, documented as a bright ephemeral feature (BEF). Spectra were recorded by Cassini's Composite Infrared Spectrometer. BEFs are 5 µm bright areas that appear, disappear, and shift from flyby to flyby at Titan's North Pole observed in Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (V…