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Reconnection in a rotation-dominated magnetosphere and its relation to Saturn's auroral dynamics
Jackman, C. M.; Milan, S. E.; Yeoman, T. K. +6 more
The first extended series of observations of Saturn's auroral emissions, undertaken by the Hubble Space Telescope in January 2004 in conjunction with measurements of the upstream solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) by the Cassini spacecraft, have revealed a strong auroral response to the interplanetary medium. Following the arrival …
Variable morphology of Saturn's southern ultraviolet aurora
Clarke, J. T.; Cowley, S. W. H.; Bunce, E. J. +2 more
The Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph camera on board Hubble Space Telescope obtained 68 FUV images of Saturn's southern auroral emission between 8 and 30 January 2004, during Cassini's approach to Saturn's magnetosphere. The HST observations took place in four different solar wind regimes with a low-field rarefaction region from 8 to 16 Januar…
Open flux estimates in Saturn's magnetosphere during the January 2004 Cassini-HST campaign, and implications for reconnection rates
Milan, S. E.; Badman, S. V.; Clarke, J. T. +4 more
During 8-30 January 2004, a sequence of 68 UV images of Saturn's southern aurora was obtained by the Hubble Space Telescope (HST), coordinated for the first time with measurements of the upstream interplanetary conditions made by the Cassini spacecraft. Using the poleward edge of the observed aurora as a proxy for the open-closed field line bounda…
Signature of Saturn's auroral cusp: Simultaneous Hubble Space Telescope FUV observations and upstream solar wind monitoring
Cowley, Stanley W. H.; Bunce, Emma J.; Clarke, John T. +3 more
Model simulations by Bunce et al. (2005a) have shown that direct precipitation of electrons in Saturn's dayside cusp regions is not capable of producing significant FUV aurora. Instead, they suggested the possibility that the FUV bright emissions sometimes observed near noon are associated with reconnection occurring at the dayside magnetopause, p…
Ion distributions in Saturn's magnetosphere near Titan
Cravens, T. E.; Ledvina, S. A.; KecskeméTy, K.
Titan's interaction with Saturn's magnetosphere is studied using a combination of a three-dimensional (3-D) single-fluid magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation and a test particle/Monte Carlo model. The MHD simulation includes an exosphere model based on the one used in the work of Cravens et al. (1998), simple ionospheric processes such as ion prod…
Interplanetary conditions and magnetospheric dynamics during the Cassini orbit insertion fly-through of Saturn's magnetosphere
Jackman, C. M.; Kurth, W. S.; Cecconi, B. +5 more
The primary purpose of this paper is to discuss the interplanetary conditions that prevailed during the Saturn orbit insertion (SOI) fly-through of Saturn's magnetosphere by the Cassini spacecraft in June-July 2004 and the consequent magnetospheric dynamics. We begin by examining concurrent interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and Saturn kilometric…
Titan interaction with Saturn's magnetosphere: Voyager 1 results revisited
Johnson, R. E.; Hartle, R. E.; Sittler, E. C. +3 more
We investigate the details of Titan's interaction with Saturn's magnetosphere, which includes formation and location of an ionopause, mass loading via ion pickup, and the effects of finite gyroradii. We present new interpretations of the Voyager 1 plasma instrument measurements not addressed by Hartle et al. (1982). Pickup ions H+ and H…
Narrowband Z-mode emissions interior to Saturn's plasma torus
Gurnett, D. A.; Kurth, W. S.; Kaiser, M. L. +3 more
During Cassini's close approach to Saturn, on 1 July 2004, a set of narrow bandwidth plasma emissions were detected by the Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument in the inner magnetosphere. These discrete tones were detected between 3 and 70 kHz, with individual tone bandwidths as low as a few hundred Hertz. The tones persisted for long t…