Titan's interaction with the supersonic solar wind
After 9 years in the Saturn system, the Cassini spacecraft finally observed Titan in the supersonic and super-Alfvénic solar wind. These unique observations reveal that Titan's interaction with the solar wind is in many ways similar to unmagnetized planets Mars and Venus and active comets in sp...
Guardado en:
| Autor principal: | |
|---|---|
| Otros Autores: | , , , , , , |
| Formato: | Capítulo de libro |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
| Publicado: |
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
2015
|
| Materias: | |
| Acceso en línea: | Registro en Scopus DOI Handle Registro en la Biblioteca Digital |
| Aporte de: | Registro referencial: Solicitar el recurso aquí |
| Sumario: | After 9 years in the Saturn system, the Cassini spacecraft finally observed Titan in the supersonic and super-Alfvénic solar wind. These unique observations reveal that Titan's interaction with the solar wind is in many ways similar to unmagnetized planets Mars and Venus and active comets in spite of the differences in the properties of the solar plasma in the outer solar system. In particular, Cassini detected a collisionless, supercritical bow shock and a well-defined induced magnetosphere filled with mass-loaded interplanetary magnetic field lines, which drape around Titan's ionosphere. Although the flyby altitude may not allow the detection of an ionopause, Cassini reports enhancements of plasma density compatible with plasma clouds or streamers in the flanks of its induced magnetosphere or due to an expansion of the induced magnetosphere. Because of the upstream conditions, these observations may be also relevant to other bodies in the outer solar system such as Pluto, where kinetic processes are expected to dominate. © 2015. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. |
|---|---|
| Bibliografía: | gren, K., Wahlund, J.-E., Garnier, P., Modolo, R., Cui, J., Galand, M., Müller-Wodarg, I., On the ionospheric structure of Titan (2009) Planet. Space Sci., 57 (1415), pp. 1821-1827 Arridge, C.S., Upstream of Saturn and Titan (2011) Space Sci. Rev., 162 (14), pp. 25-83 Bertucci, C., Mazelle, C., Acuña, M., Structure and variability of the Martian magnetic pileup boundary and bow shock from MGS MAG/ER observations (2005) Adv. Space Res., 36 (11), pp. 2066-2076 Bertucci, C., Mazelle, C., Acuña, M.H., Russell, C.T., Slavin, J.A., Structure of the magnetic pileup boundary at Mars and Venus (2005) J. Geophys. Res., 110, p. A01209 Bertucci, C., The magnetic memory of Titan's ionized atmosphere (2008) Science, 321 (5895), pp. 1475-1478 Bertucci, C., Duru, F., Edberg, N., Fraenz, M., Martinecz, C., Szego, K., Vaisberg, O., The induced magnetospheres of Mars, Venus, and Titan (2011) Space Sci. Rev., 162 (14), pp. 113-171 Coates, A.J., Cassini in Titan's tail: CAPS observations of plasma escape (2012) J. Geophys. Res., 117. , et al., A05324 Cravens, T.E., Dynamical and magnetic field time constants for Titan's ionosphere: Empirical estimates and comparisons with Venus (2010) J. Geophys. Res., 115. , et al., A08319 Cui, J., Yelle, R.V., Volk, K., Distribution and escape of molecular hydrogen in Titan's thermosphere and exosphere (2008) J. Geophys. Res., 113, p. E10004 Delamere, P.A., Bagenal, F., Pluto's kinetic interaction with the solar wind (2004) Geophys. Res. Lett., 31, p. L04807 Dougherty, M., The Cassini magnetic field investigation (2004) Space Sci. Rev., 114 (1-4), pp. 331-383 Dubinin, E., Fränz, M., Woch, J., Roussos, E., Barabash, S., Lundin, R., Winningham, J.D., Acuña, M., Plasma morphology at Mars. Aspera-3 observations (2006) Space Sci. Rev., 126 (14), pp. 209-238 Dubinin, E., Plasma environment of Mars as observed by simultaneous MEX-ASPERA-3 and MEX-MARSIS observations (2008) J. Geophys. Res., 113. , et al., A10217 Edberg, N.J.T., Lester, M., Cowley, S.W.H., Eriksson, A.I., Statistical analysis of the location of the Martian magnetic pileup boundary and bow shock and the influence of crustal magnetic fields (2008) J. Geophys. Res., 113, p. A08206 Edberg, N.J.T., Wahlund, J.-E., gren, K., Morooka, M.W., Modolo, R., Bertucci, C., Dougherty, M.K., Electron density and temperature measurements in the cold plasma environment of Titan: Implications for atmospheric escape (2010) Geophys. Res. Lett., 37, p. L20105 Garnier, P., Dandouras, I., Toublanc, D., Brandt, P.C., Roelof, E.C., Mitchell, D.G., Krimigis, S.M., Waite, H., The exosphere of Titan and its interaction with the kronian magnetosphere: MIMI observations and modeling (2007) Planet. Space Sci., 55 (12), pp. 165-173 Gurnett, D., The Cassini radio and plasma wave investigation (2004) Space Sci. Rev., 114 (1), pp. 395-463 Hartle, R.E., Sittler, E.C., Jr., Ogilvie, K.W., Scudder, J.D., Lazarus, A.J., Atreya, S.K., Titan's ion exosphere observed from Voyager 1 (1982) J. Geophys. Res., 87, pp. 1383-1394 Krimigis, S., Magnetosphere imaging instrument (MIMI) on the Cassini mission to Saturn/Titan (2004) Space, Sci. Rev., 114, pp. 233-329 Masters, A., Achilleos, N., Dougherty, M.K., Slavin, J.A., Hospodarsky, G.B., Arridge, C.S., Coates, A.J., An empirical model of Saturn's bow shock: Cassini observations of shock location and shape (2008) J. Geophys. Res., 113, p. A10210 Melin, H., Shemansky, D.E., Liu, X., The distribution of atomic hydrogen and oxygen in the magnetosphere of Saturn (2009) Planet. Space Sci., 57, pp. 1743-1753 Ness, N.F., Acuña, M.H., Behannon, K.W., Neubauer, F.M., The induced magnetosphere of Titan (1982) J. Geophys. Res., 87, pp. 1369-1381 Neubauer, F.M., Giotto magnetic-field results on the boundaries of the pile-up region and the magnetic cavity (1987) Astron. Astrophys., 187, pp. 73-79 Neubauer, F.M., First results from the Giotto magnetometer experiment at comet Halley (1986) Nature, 321, pp. 352-355 Neubauer, F.M., Titan's near magnetotail from magnetic field and electron plasma observations and modeling: Cassini flybys TA, TB, and T3 (2006) J. Geophys. Res., 111. , et al., A10220 Omidi, N., Winske, D., A kinetic study of solar wind mass loading and cometary bow shocks (1987) J. Geophys. Res., 92, p. 13 Romanelli, N., Outflow and plasma acceleration in Titan's induced magnetotail: Evidence of magnetic tension forces (2014) J. Geophys. Res. Space Physics, 119. , in press Schwartz, S.J., Shock and discontinuity normals, Mach numbers, and related parameters (1998) Analysis Methods for Multi-Spacecraft Data, 1, pp. 249-267. , ISSI Scientific Rep. Ser. edited by G. Paschmann and P. Daly, ESA/ISSI, Noordwijk, Netherlands Schwartz, S.J., Burgess, D., Wilkinson, W.P., Kessel, R.L., Dunlop, M., Lühr, H., Observations of short large-amplitude magnetic structures at a quasi-parallel shock (1992) J. Geophys. Res., 97, pp. 4209-4227 Smith, E.J., Tsurutani, B.T., Slvain, J.A., Jones, D.E., Siscoe, G.L., Asoka Mendis, D., International cometary explorer encounter with Giacobini-Zinner: Magnetic field observations (1986) Science, 232 (4748), pp. 382-385 Sonnerup, B.U.O., Scheible, M., Minimum and maximum variance analysis (1998) Analysis Methods for Multi-Spacecraft Data, 1, pp. 185-215. , ISSI Scientific Rep. Ser. edited by G. Paschmann and P. Daly, ESA/ISSI, Noordwijk, Netherlands Thomsen, M.F., Saturn's magnetospheric dynamics (2013) Geophys. Res. Lett., 40, pp. 5337-5344 Treumann, R.A., Fundamentals of collisionless shocks for astrophysical application: 1. Non-relativistic shocks (2009) Astron. Astrophys. Rev., 17 (4), pp. 409-535 Tsurutani, B.T., Smith, E.J., Thorne, R.M., Gosling, J.T., Matsumoto, H., Steepened magnetosonic waves at comet Giacobini-Zinner (1987) J. Geophys. Res., 92, p. 11 Ulusen, D., Comparisons of Cassini flybys of the Titan magnetospheric interaction with an MHD model: Evidence for organized behavior at high altitudes (2012) Icarus, 217 (1), pp. 43-54 Wei, H.Y., Russell, C.T., Dougherty, M.K., Neubauer, F.M., Ma, Y.J., Upper limits on Titan's magnetic moment and implications for its interior (2010) J. Geophys. Res., 115, p. E10007 Zhang, T.L., Luhmann, J., Russell, C., The magnetic barrier at Venus (1991) J. Geophys. Res., 96, p. 11 Zhang, T.L., Initial Venus express magnetic field observations of the Venus bow shock location at solar minimum (2008) Planet. Space Sci., 56 (6), pp. 785-789 |
| ISSN: | 00948276 |
| DOI: | 10.1002/2014GL062106 |