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Identification of Saturn's magnetospheric regions and associated plasma processes: Synopsis of Cassini observations during orbit insertion
Research and Scientific Support Department, European Space Agency, Noordwijk, Netherlands
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, UK
Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
Center for Space Environment Modeling, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Center for Space Environment Modeling, Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA
Engineering Physics Program and Astronomy Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Engineering Physics Program and Astronomy Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Engineering Physics Program and Astronomy Department, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Dorking, UK
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA
Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London, UK
Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London, UK
Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, London, UK
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA
Max-Planck Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
Department of Physics, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA
Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements, Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées, Toulouse, France
Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany
Max Planck Institute for Nuclear Physics, Heidelberg, Germany
Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, Texas, USA
LASP, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Center for Space Physics, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Saturn's magnetosphere is currently studied from the microphysical to the global scale by the Cassini-Huygens mission. During the first half of 2004, in the approach phase, remote sensing observations of Saturn's magnetosphere gave access to its auroral, radio, UV, energetic neutral atom, and dust emissions. Then, on 1 July 2004, Cassini Saturn orbit insertion provided us with the first in situ exploration of Saturn's magnetosphere since Voyager. To date, Saturn orbit insertion is the only Cassini orbit to have been described in common by all field and particle instruments. We use the comprehensive suite of magnetospheric and plasma science instruments to give a unified description of the large-scale structure of the magnetosphere during this particular orbit, identifying the different regions and their boundaries. These regions consist of the Saturnian ring system (region 1, within 3 Saturn radii (R S )) and the cold plasma torus (region 2, within 5–6 R S ) in the inner magnetosphere, a dynamic and extended plasma sheet (region 3), and an outer high-latitude magnetosphere (region 4, beyond 12–14 R S ). We compare these observations to those made at the time of the Voyager encounters. Then, we identify some of the dominant chemical characteristics and dynamical phenomena in each of these regions. The inner magnetosphere is characterized by the presence of the dominant plasma and neutral sources of the Saturnian system, giving birth to a very special magnetosphere dominated by water products. The extended plasma sheet, where the ring current resides, is a variable region with stretched magnetic field lines and contains a mixture of cold and hot plasma populations resulting from plasma transport processes. The outer high-latitude magnetosphere is characterized by a quiet magnetic field and an absence of plasma. Saturn orbit insertion observations enabled us to capture a snapshot of the large-scale structure of the Saturnian magnetosphere and of some of the main plasma processes operating in this complex environment. The analysis of the broad diversity of these interaction processes will be one of the main themes of magnetospheric and plasma science during the Cassini mission.
Received 9 July 2007; accepted 28 June 2008; published 31 December 2008.
Citation: (2008), Identification of Saturn's magnetospheric regions and associated plasma processes: Synopsis of Cassini observations during orbit insertion, Rev. Geophys., 46, RG4008, doi:10.1029/2007RG000238.
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