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Mapping Magnetospheric Equatorial Regions at Saturn from Cassini Prime Mission Observations
Schippers, P.; André, N.; Krupp, N. +19 more
Saturn's rich magnetospheric environment is unique in the solar system, with a large number of active magnetospheric processes and phenomena. Observations of this environment from the Cassini spacecraft has enabled the study of a magnetospheric system which strongly interacts with other components of the saturnian system: the planet, its rings, nu…
Electron Physics of Asymmetric Magnetic Field Reconnection
Mozer, Forrest S.; Pritchett, Philip L.
There have been many significant advances in understanding magnetic field reconnection as a result of improved space measurements and two-dimensional computer simulations. While reviews of recent work have tended to focus on symmetric reconnection on ion and larger spatial scales, the present review will focus on asymmetric reconnection and on ele…
Non-adiabatic Ion Acceleration in the Earth Magnetotail and Its Various Manifestations in the Plasma Sheet Boundary Layer
Zelenyi, L. M.; Sauvaud, J. -A.; Owen, C. J. +5 more
Many physical phenomena in space involve energy dissipation which generally leads to charged particle acceleration, often up to very high energies. In the Earth magnetosphere energy accumulation and release occur in the magnetotail, namely in its Current Sheet (CS). The kinetic analysis of non-adiabatic ion trajectories in the CS region with finit…
INTEGRAL: Science Highlights and Future Prospects
Wilms, Jörn; Winkler, Christoph; Ubertini, Pietro +1 more
ESA's hard X-ray and soft gamma-ray observatory INTEGRAL is covering the 3 keV to 10 MeV energy band, with excellent sensitivity during long and uninterrupted observations of a large field of view (∼100 square degrees), with ms time resolution and keV energy resolution. It links the energy band of pointed soft X-ray missions such as XMM-Newton wit…
Exospheres and Energetic Neutral Atoms of Mars, Venus and Titan
Chaufray, Jean-Yves; Futaana, Yoshifumi; Mura, Alessandro +5 more
Our understanding of the upper atmosphere of unmagnetized bodies such as Mars, Venus and Titan has improved significantly in this decade. Recent observations by in situ and remote sensing instruments on board Mars Express, Venus Express and Cassini have revealed characteristics of the neutral upper atmospheres (exospheres) and of energetic neutral…
Grad-Shafranov Reconstruction of Magnetic Flux Ropes in the Near-Earth Space
Lui, A. T. Y.
Electric currents permeate space plasmas and often have a significant component along the magnetic field to form magnetic flux ropes. A larger spatial perspective of these structures than from the direct observation along the satellite path is crucial in visualizing their role in plasma dynamics. For magnetic flux ropes that are approximately two-…
Recent Results from Titan's Ionosphere
Coates, A. J.; Wahlund, J. -E.; Szego, K. +4 more
Titan has the most significant atmosphere of any moon in the solar system, with a pressure at the surface larger than the Earth's. It also has a significant ionosphere, which is usually immersed in Saturn's magnetosphere. Occasionally it exits into Saturn's magnetosheath. In this paper we review several recent advances in our understanding of Tita…
Understanding the Dynamics of Magnetic Reconnection Layer
Yamada, Masaaki
We review progress in understanding the dynamics of a typical magnetic reconnection layer by describing the historical development of theory and the recent findings and discoveries in space and laboratory plasmas. The emphasis is on the dynamics of electrons moving with respect to ions in the collision-free neutral sheet. We make a detailed compar…