Abstract
JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH,
VOL. 85, NO. A11,
PP. 5835-5840, 1980
doi:10.1029/JA085iA11p05835
A Possible Magnetic Wake of Titan: Pioneer 11 Observations
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91103.
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91103.
Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, California 90024.
Department of Planet Science, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona 85712.
The characteristics of the magnetic signature measured by Pioneer 11 during the several hour interval around the crossing of Titan’s L shell have been found to be consistent with plausible models of the interaction of a 200 km/s corotating magnetized plasma with a conducting or magnetized object. The observed manner in which the magnetic fluctuations varied throughout the interval, the average magnetosheath/ambient field amplitude ratio, and the occurrence of a field minimum at the time of closest approach to the axis of the extended Titan tail are all consistent with the detection of a magnetic wake roughly 145 RT downstream from Titan. In addition, values of the plasma mass density derived from the interaction geometry are consistent with an upper limit inferred from in situ plasma measurements obtained during the outbound leg of Pioneer’s trajectory at Saturn. Although two magnetic events of similar duration occurred within 10 hours and on either side of the Titan related event, they coincided closely with probable passage of the spacecraft through tail and/or ring current systems. In addition, the character of the Titan interval appears to differ from the other two in a number of other important aspects.
Received 5 May 1980; accepted 17 June 1980; .
Citation: (1980), A Possible Magnetic Wake of Titan: Pioneer 11 Observations, J. Geophys. Res., 85(A11), 5835–5840, doi:10.1029/JA085iA11p05835.
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