Connotea
CiteULike
del.ico.us
BibSonomyAbstract
Cassini encounters with hot flow anomaly-like phenomena at Saturn's bow shock
Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London, U. K.
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Department of Space and Climate Physics, University College London, Dorking, U. K.
Centre for Planetary Sciences, University College London, London, U. K.
Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London, U. K.
Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London, U. K.
Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London, U. K.
Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London, U. K.
Space and Atmospheric Physics Group, Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, London, U. K.
KFKI Research Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Budapest, Hungary
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Department of Space and Climate Physics, University College London, Dorking, U. K.
Centre for Planetary Sciences, University College London, London, U. K.
Space Science and Applications, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA
The first observations of the kronian equivalent of hot flow anomalies (HFAs) are presented. Using magnetic field and plasma data we discuss two events that were observed upstream of Saturn's bow shock during the first two orbits of the Cassini spacecraft. We suggest that these events result from the interaction between interplanetary current sheets and the shock surface. This same interaction is responsible for HFAs at the terrestrial bow shock. Calculations of electron temperature reveal an increase by a factor of approximately two for the first event, which is less than for terrestrial HFAs where the increase is by approximately an order of magnitude. In contrast to terrestrial HFAs we find that these events are associated with density enhancement rather than reduction. Estimates of the total pressure for the first event imply that the central region is expanding.
Received 16 October 2007; accepted 11 December 2007; published 18 January 2008.
Citation: (2008), Cassini encounters with hot flow anomaly-like phenomena at Saturn's bow shock, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L02202, doi:10.1029/2007GL032371.
Cited By