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GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS,
VOL. 34,
L24S03,
5 PP., 2007
doi:10.1029/2007GL030677
Charged particle environment of Titan during the T9 flyby
Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Central Research Institute for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Central Research Institute for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, Imperial College London, London, UK
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, UK
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Central Research Institute for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Budapest, Hungary
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
The ion measurements of the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer are presented which were acquired on 26 December 2005, during the T9 flyby at Titan. The plasma flow and magnetic field directions in the distant plasma environment of the moon were distinctly different from the other flybys. The near-Titan environment, dominated by ions of Titan origin, had a split signature, each with different ion composition; the first region was dominated by dense, slow, and cold ions in the 16–19 and 28–40 amu mass range, the second region contained only ions with mass 1 and 2, much less dense and less slow. Magnetospheric ions penetrate marginally into region 1, whereas the region-2 ion population is mixed. A detailed analysis has led us to conclude that the first event was due to the crossing of the mantle of Titan, whereas the second one very likely was a wake crossing. The split indicates the non-convexity of the ion-dominated volume around Titan. Both ion distributions are analysed in detail.
Received 22 May 2007; accepted 11 September 2007; published 6 November 2007.
Citation: (2007), Charged particle environment of Titan during the T9 flyby, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L24S03, doi:10.1029/2007GL030677.
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