Search Publications
Jupiter's Auroral Radio Emissions Observed by Cassini: Rotational Versus Solar Wind Control, and Components Identification
Cecconi, B.; Lamy, L.; Zarka, P. +5 more
Reanalyzing Cassini radio observations performed during Jupiter's flyby of 2000-2001, we study the internal (rotational) versus external (solar wind) control of Jupiter's radio emissions, from kilometer to decameter wavelengths, and the relations between the different auroral radio components. For that purpose, we build a database of the occurrenc…
Flux Transfer Events at a Reconnection Suppressed Magnetopause: Cassini Observations at Saturn
Coates, Andrew J.; Fuselier, Stephen A.; Slavin, James A. +5 more
We present the discovery of seven new flux transfer events (FTEs) at Saturn's dayside magnetopause by the Cassini spacecraft and analyze the observations of all eight known FTEs. We investigate how FTEs may differ at Saturn where the magnetopause conditions are likely to diamagnetically suppress magnetic reconnection from occurring. The measured i…
Empirical Selection of Auroral Kilometric Radiation During a Multipoint Remote Observation With Wind and Cassini
Jackman, C. M.; Bonnin, X.; Cecconi, B. +5 more
Auroral Kilometric Radiation (AKR) is terrestrial radio emission that originates in particle acceleration regions along magnetic field lines, coinciding with discrete auroral arcs. AKR viewing geometry is complex due to the confinement of the source regions to nightside local times (LTs) and the anisotropy of the beaming pattern, so observations a…
Re-Analysis of the Cassini RPWS/LP Data in Titan's Ionosphere: 1. Detection of Several Electron Populations
Wahlund, J. -E.; Edberg, N. J. T.; Hadid, L. Z. +5 more
Current models of Titan's ionosphere have difficulties in explaining the observed electron density and/or temperature. In order to get new insights, we re-analyzed the data taken in the ionosphere of Titan by the Cassini Langmuir probe (LP), part of the Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) instrument. This is the first of two papers that present t…
The 3D Structure of Saturn Magnetospheric Neutral Tori Produced by the Enceladus Plumes
Richardson, John D.; Smith, Howard Todd
This research provides updated and validated spatial distributions of Enceladus generated H2O, OH, and O neutral tori. These tori are produced by the primary neutral source, Enceladus, and consist of populations of coorbiting neutral particles that provide the bulk of heavy molecules to Saturn's (neutral particle dominant) magnetosphere…
A Complete Data Set of Equatorial Projections of Saturn's Energetic Neutral Atom Emissions Observed by Cassini-INCA
Mitchell, D. G.; Paranicas, C.; Badman, S. V. +3 more
Observations of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) are a useful tool for analyzing ion and neutral abundances in planetary magnetospheres. They are created when hot plasma, originating for example from magnetic reconnection sites, charge-exchanges with the ambient neutral population surrounding the planet. The motion of ENAs is not governed by the mag…
Discovery of Alfvén Waves Planetward of Saturn's Rings
Dougherty, M. K.; Cao, H.; Southwood, D. J. +3 more
Between April and September 2017 in the final stages of the Cassini Saturn Orbiter mission the spacecraft executed 22 orbits passing planetward of the innermost ring, the D ring. During all periapsis passes oscillations were detected in the azimuthal magnetic field components on typical time scales of a few minutes. We argue that these time varyin…
Re-Analysis of the Cassini RPWS/LP Data in Titan's Ionosphere: 2. Statistics on 57 Flybys
Wahlund, J. -E.; Edberg, N. J. T.; Hadid, L. Z. +5 more
The ionosphere of Titan hosts a complex ion chemistry leading to the formation of organic dust below 1,200 km. Current models cannot fully explain the observed electron temperature in this dusty environment. To achieve new insight, we have re-analyzed the data taken in the ionosphere of Titan by the Cassini Langmuir probe (LP), part of the Radio a…
Saturn's Nightside Ring Current During Cassini's Grand Finale
Roussos, E.; Cowley, S. W. H.; Bunce, E. J. +7 more
During Cassini's Grand Finale proximal orbits, the spacecraft traversed the nightside magnetotail to ∼21 Saturn radii. Clear signatures of Saturn's equatorial current sheet are observed in the magnetic field data. An axisymmetric model of the ring current is fitted to these data, amended to take into account the tilt of the current layer by solar …
Cassini-Plasma Interaction Simulations Revealing the Cassini Ion Wake Characteristics: Implications for In-Situ Data Analyses and Ion Temperature Estimates
Wilson, R. J.; Morooka, M. W.; Hadid, L. Z. +7 more
We have used Spacecraft Plasma Interaction Software (SPIS) simulations to study the characteristics (i.e., dimensions, ion depletion, and evolution with the changing spacecraft attitude) of the Cassini ion wake. We focus on two regions, the plasma disk at 4.5-4.7 RS, where the most prominent wake structure will be formed, and at 7.6 R