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The overall configuration of the interplanetary magnetic field upstream of Saturn as revealed by Cassini observations
Dougherty, M. K.; Jackman, C. M.; Forsyth, R. J.
The Cassini spacecraft approached Saturn during the declining phase of the solar cycle, at a time when the heliosphere was highly structured by compressions and rarefactions associated with corotating interaction regions (CIRs). We examine in detail the hourly averaged interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) data prior to Saturn Orbit Insertion and du…
Statistical morphology of ENA emissions at Saturn
Krimigis, S. M.; Mitchell, D. G.; Roelof, E. C. +2 more
The Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) on the Cassini spacecraft is providing the first energetic neutral particle (ENA) measurements in the magnetosphere of Saturn. Advantageous spacecraft orbits during the first 120 days of 2007 allowed ENA observations to be mapped to the equatorial plane of the planet and surveyed as a statistical ensemb…
Study of near-Earth reconnection events with Cluster and Double Star
Sauvaud, J. -A.; Zhang, T. L.; Lucek, E. +12 more
Observations made by a unique constellation of Cluster (at 14-16 RE), TC2, Goes10, and LANL spacecraft (near 6.6 RE) have allowed us to study the details of three reconnection events in the middle of a thick plasma sheet with the reconnection X-line located unusually close to Earth (10-12 RE). We use mapping along …
Jupiter's changing auroral location
Grodent, Denis; GéRard, Jean-Claude; Saglam, Adem +2 more
We examine the case of significant latitudinal shifts of the Jovian northern auroral emissions appearing in a data set spanning nine years of observations with the Hubble Space Telescope in the far ultraviolet. The extended data set makes it possible to compare the location of the main auroral emission with similar viewing geometries and satellite…
Observations of an active thin current sheet
Dandouras, I.; Lucek, E.; Fazakerley, A. N. +11 more
We analyze observations of magnetotail current sheet dynamics during a substorm between 2330 and 2400 UT on 28 August 2005 when Cluster was in the plasma sheet at [-17.2, -4.49, 0.03] RE (GSM) with the foot points near the IMAGE ground-based network. Observations from the Cluster spacecraft, ground-based magnetometers, and the IMAGE sat…
Observations of the development of electron temperature anisotropies in Earth's magnetosheath
Schwartz, S. J.; Masood, W.
Electron velocity distributions in Earth's magnetosheath exhibit a number of nonequilibrium characteristics, including a flat-topped shape at thermal energies and anisotropies relative to the magnetic field, with T⊥e > T∥e. These features are related to processes at the bow shock and within the magnetosheath. In the presen…
Plasma temperatures in Saturn's ionosphere
Galand, Marina; Moore, Luke; Yelle, Roger +2 more
We have calculated self-consistent electron and ion temperatures in Saturn's ionosphere using a series of coupled fluid and kinetic models developed to help interpret Cassini observations and to examine the energy budget of Saturn's upper atmosphere. Electron temperatures in the midlatitude topside ionosphere during solar maximum are calculated to…
Suprathermal electron evolution in a Parker spiral magnetic field
Owens, M. J.; Crooker, N. U.; Schwadron, N. A.
Suprathermal electrons (>70 eV) form a small fraction of the total solar wind electron density but serve as valuable tracers of heliospheric magnetic field topology. Their usefulness as tracers of magnetic loops with both feet rooted on the Sun, however, most likely fades as the loops expand beyond some distance owing to scattering. As a first …
Cluster observations of electrostatic solitary waves near the Earth's bow shock
RèMe, H.; André, M.; Krasnoselskikh, V. +8 more
Using a period of internal burst mode data from the Cluster Electric Field and Wave instrument a number of electrostatic solitary structures have been identified in the foot region of Earth's quasi-perpendicular bow shock. The four individual probe potential measurements are utilized to investigate the fundamental characteristics of the solitary w…
Solar Mass Ejection Imager 3-D reconstruction of the 27-28 May 2003 coronal mass ejection sequence
Jackson, B. V.; Buffington, A.; Hick, P. P. +3 more
The Solar Mass Ejection Imager (SMEI) has recorded the inner-heliospheric response in white-light Thomson scattering for many hundreds of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs). Some of these have been observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) Large-Angle Spectroscopic Coronagraph (LASCO) instruments and also in situ by near…