Journal ArticleDOI
Ultraviolet Imaging Spectroscopy Shows an Active Saturnian System
Larry W. Esposito,Joshua Colwell,Kristopher Larsen,Willian E. McClintock,A. Ian F. Stewart,J. T. Hallett,Donald E. Shemansky,Joseph M. Ajello,Candice Hansen,Amanada R. Hendrix,Robert A. West,H. Uwe Keller,A. Korth,Wayne Pryor,Ralf Reulke,Yuk L. Yung +15 more
TLDR
Neutral oxygen in the saturnian system shows variability, and the total number of oxygen atoms peaks at 4 × 1034, which is consistent with initially pure water ice bombarded by meteors.Abstract:
Neutral oxygen in the saturnian system shows variability, and the total number of
oxygen atoms peaks at 4 x 10^(34). Saturn’s aurora brightens in response to solar-wind
forcing, and the auroral spectrum resembles Jupiter’s. Phoebe’s surface shows variable
water-ice content, and the data indicate it originated in the outer solar system.
Saturn’s rings also show variable water abundance, with the purest ice in the
outermost A ring. This radial variation is consistent with initially pure water ice
bombarded by meteors, but smaller radial structures may indicate collisional
transport and recent renewal events in the past 10^7 to 10^8 years.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Cassini ion and neutral mass spectrometer: Enceladus plume composition and structure.
J. Hunter Waite,Michael R. Combi,Wing-Huen Ip,Thomas E. Cravens,Ralph L. McNutt,Wayne Kasprzak,Roger V. Yelle,Janet G. Luhmann,Hasso B. Niemann,David A. Gell,Brian Magee,Greg Fletcher,Jonathan I. Lunine,Wei-Ling Tseng +13 more
TL;DR: INMS data indicate that the atmospheric plume and coma are dominated by water, with significant amounts of carbon dioxide, an unidentified species with a mass-to-charge ratio of 28 daltons (either carbon monoxide or molecular nitrogen), and methane.
Journal ArticleDOI
Enceladus' Water Vapor Plume
Candice Hansen,Larry W. Esposito,A. I. F. Stewart,Joshua Colwell,Amanda R. Hendrix,Wayne Pryor,Donald E. Shemansky,Robert A. West +7 more
TL;DR: The Cassini spacecraft flew close to Saturn's small moon Enceladus three times in 2005 and observed stellar occultations on two flybys and confirmed the existence, composition, and regionally confined nature of a water vapor plume in the south polar region of Ence Gladus.
Journal ArticleDOI
Identification of a Dynamic Atmosphere at Enceladus with the Cassini Magnetometer
Michele K. Dougherty,Krishan K. Khurana,Fritz M. Neubauer,Christopher T. Russell,Joachim Saur,Jared Leisner,M. E. Burton +6 more
TL;DR: The Cassini magnetometer has detected the interaction of the magnetospheric plasma of Saturn with an atmospheric plume at the icy moon Enceladus, consistent with local outgassing activity via a plume from the surface of the moon near its south pole.
Journal ArticleDOI
The Variable Rotation Period of the Inner Region of Saturn's Plasma Disk
D. A. Gurnett,A. M. Persoon,William S. Kurth,J. B. Groene,T. F. Averkamp,Michele K. Dougherty,David J. Southwood,David J. Southwood +7 more
TL;DR: It is shown that the plasma and magnetic fields in the inner region of Saturn's plasma disk rotate in synchronism with the time-variable modulation period of Saturn’s kilometric radio emission.
Journal ArticleDOI
Dynamics of Saturn's magnetosphere from MIMI during Cassini's orbital insertion.
Stamatios M. Krimigis,D. G. Mitchell,D. C. Hamilton,Norbert Krupp,Stefano Livi,Edmond C. Roelof,J. Dandouras,Thomas P. Armstrong,Barry Mauk,Chris Paranicas,Pontus Brandt,Scott Bolton,Andrew F. Cheng,T. Choo,George Gloeckler,John Hayes,K. C. Hsieh,Wing-Huen Ip,S. E. Jaskulek,Edwin P. Keath,E. Kirsch,M. Kusterer,Andreas Lagg,Louis J. Lanzerotti,Louis J. Lanzerotti,D. LaVallee,J. W. Manweiler,R. W. McEntire,W. Rasmuss,Joachim Saur,F. S. Turner,D. J. Williams,Joachim Woch +32 more
TL;DR: ENA imaging has revealed a radiation belt that resides inward of the D ring and is probably the result of double charge exchange between the main radiation belt and the upper layers of Saturn's exosphere.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI
Composition and dynamics of plasma in Saturn's magnetosphere.
D. T. Young,Jean-Jacques Berthelier,Michel Blanc,James L. Burch,Scott Bolton,Andrew J. Coates,F. J. Crary,Raymond Goldstein,Manuel Grande,T. W. Hill,Robert E. Johnson,Raúl A. Baragiola,V. Kelha,David J. McComas,Kalevi Mursula,E. C. Sittler,K. R. Svenes,Karoly Szego,P. Tanskanen,Michelle F. Thomsen,S. Bakshi,B. L. Barraclough,Z. Bebesi,D. M. Delapp,Malcolm Dunlop,J. T. Gosling,Judith D. Furman,Lin Gilbert,D. Glenn,Christer Holmlund,J. M. Illiano,Gethyn R. Lewis,D. R. Linder,Sylvestre Maurice,H. J. McAndrews,B. T. Narheim,E. Pallier,Daniel B. Reisenfeld,Daniel B. Reisenfeld,A. M. Rymer,Howard Smith,R. L. Tokar,J. Vilppola,C. Zinsmeyer +43 more
TL;DR: Over the A and B rings, an ionosphere in which O2+ and O+ are dominant is found, which suggests the possible existence of a layer of O2 gas similar to the atmospheres of Europa and Ganymede.
Journal ArticleDOI
Gas drag in primordial circumplanetary envelopes: A mechanism for satellite capture
TL;DR: In this paper, the deceleration and fragmentation of two parent bodies passing through an extended primordial Jovian nebula may account for the clusters of prograde and retrograde satellites of Jupiter.
Journal ArticleDOI
Extreme ultraviolet observations from the Voyager 2 encounter with Saturn
Bill R. Sandel,Donald E. Shemansky,A. L. Broadfoot,Jay B. Holberg,G. R. Smith,John C. McConnell,Darrell F. Strobel,Sushil K. Atreya,T. M. Donahue,H. W. Moos,Donald M. Hunten,R. B. Pomphrey,S. Linick +12 more
TL;DR: Combined analysis of helium (584 angstroms) airglow and the atmospheric occultations of the star δ Scorpii imply a vertical mixing parameter in Saturn's upper atmosphere of K (eddy diffusion coefficient) ∼ 8 x 107 square centimeters per second, an order of magnitude more vigorous than mixing in Jupiter'supper atmosphere.
Journal ArticleDOI
Compositional Evolution of Saturn's Rings Due to Meteoroid Bombardment
Jeffrey N. Cuzzi,P. R. Estrada +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the hypothesis that global scale color and compositional differences in the main rings of Saturn arise naturally from extrinsic meteoroid bombardment of a ring system which was initially composed primarily, but not entirely, of water ice.
Journal ArticleDOI
Control of Jupiter's radio emission and aurorae by the solar wind
D. A. Gurnett,William S. Kurth,George Hospodarsky,A. M. Persoon,P. Zarka,Alain Lecacheux,Scott Bolton,Michael D. Desch,William M. Farrell,M. L. Kaiser,H. P. Ladreiter,Helmut O. Rucker,Patrick H. M. Galopeau,Philippe Louarn,D. T. Young,Wayne R. Pryor,Michele K. Dougherty +16 more
TL;DR: The results show that both of these emissions are triggered by interplanetary shocks propagating outward from the Sun, which produces strong electric fields and therefore electron acceleration along the auroral field lines similar to the processes that occur during geomagnetic storms at the Earth.
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