Cassini observations of Saturn's southern polar cusp

Autor: Stamatios M. Krimigis, Emma J. Bunce, Elias Roussos, Michele K. Dougherty, J. S. Leisner, Yulia Bogdanova, Laurent Lamy, Chris S. Arridge, Geraint H. Jones, Stanley W. H. Cowley, Norbert Krupp, A. N. Fazakerley, Andrew J. Coates, Christopher T. Russell, P. Zarka, Nicholas Achilleos, J. M. Jasinski, Krishan K. Khurana
Přispěvatelé: Department of Physics and Astronomy [UCL London], University College of London [London] (UCL), Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL), Radio and Space Plasma Physics Group [Leicester] (RSPP), University of Leicester, Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics [Los Angeles] (IGPP), University of California [Los Angeles] (UCLA), University of California-University of California, Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung (MPS), Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences [Los Angeles] (EPSS), Space and Atmospheric Physics Group [London], Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London-Imperial College London, Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS), University of California (UC)-University of California (UC), Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung = Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS)
Rok vydání: 2016
Předmět:
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC-FIELD
Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena
MAGNETOPAUSE
FOS: Physical sciences
Magnetosphere
Astronomy & Astrophysics
01 natural sciences
Jupiter
Magnetosheath
Physics - Space Physics
Neptune
Saturn
RECONNECTION
0103 physical sciences
Astrophysics::Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
Interplanetary magnetic field
010303 astronomy & astrophysics
ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
JUPITER
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP)
[PHYS]Physics [physics]
Physics
Science & Technology
JOVIAN MAGNETOSPHERE
PLASMA INJECTION
Astronomy
MAGNETOSPHERIC CUSPS
Space Physics (physics.space-ph)
Solar wind
Geophysics
physics.space-ph
13. Climate action
Space and Planetary Science
SOLAR-WIND
Physical Sciences
astro-ph.EP
Physics::Space Physics
CAPS ELECTRON SPECTROMETER
RADIATION
Magnetopause
Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
[PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph]
Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Zdroj: Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics
Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics, American Geophysical Union/Wiley, 2016, 121 (4), pp.3006-3030. ⟨10.1002/2015JA021957⟩
Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics, 2016, 121 (4), pp.3006-3030. ⟨10.1002/2015JA021957⟩
ISSN: 2169-9402
2169-9380
DOI: 10.1002/2015ja021957
Popis: The magnetospheric cusps are important sites of the coupling of a magnetosphere with the solar wind. The combination of both ground- and space-based observations at Earth have enabled considerable progress to be made in understanding the terrestrial cusp and its role in the coupling of the magnetosphere to the solar wind via the polar magnetosphere. Voyager 2 fully explored Neptune's cusp in 1989 but highly inclined orbits of the Cassini spacecraft at Saturn present the most recent opportunity to repeatedly studying the polar magnetosphere of a rapidly rotating planet. In this paper we discuss observations made by Cassini during two passes through Saturn's southern polar magnetosphere. Our main findings are that i) Cassini directly encounters the southern polar cusp with evidence for the entry of magnetosheath plasma into the cusp via magnetopause reconnection, ii) magnetopause reconnection and entry of plasma into the cusp can occur over a range of solar wind conditions, and iii) double cusp morphologies are consistent with the position of the cusp oscillating in phase with Saturn's global magnetospheric periodicities.
Journal accepted version before copy-editing: 55 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in J. Geophys. Res. Space Physics
Databáze: OpenAIRE
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