Back to Search Start Over

Titan's ionosphere in the magnetosheath: Cassini RPWS results during the T32 flyby

Authors :
Stamatios M. Krimigis
K. Ågren
Ronan Modolo
Nick Sergis
J. H. Waite
M. K. Dougherty
D. A. Gurnett
Lisa Rosenqvist
Mats André
P. Canu
Philippe Garnier
William S. Kurth
Andrew J. Coates
Jan-Erik Wahlund
Centre d'étude spatiale des rayonnements (CESR)
Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP)
Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Météo France-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3)
Université Fédérale Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées
Swedish Institute of Space Physics [Uppsala] (IRF)
HELIOS - LATMOS
Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (LATMOS)
Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Office for Space Research and Applications [Athens]
Academy of Athens
Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas (LPP)
Université Paris-Sud - Paris 11 (UP11)-Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Observatoire de Paris
Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École polytechnique (X)-Sorbonne Université (SU)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Department of Physics and Astronomy [Iowa City]
University of Iowa [Iowa City]
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD] (APL)
Mullard Space Science Laboratory (MSSL)
University College of London [London] (UCL)
Space and Atmospheric Physics Group [London]
Blackett Laboratory
Imperial College London-Imperial College London
Space Science and Engineering Division [San Antonio]
Southwest Research Institute [San Antonio] (SwRI)
Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3)
Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées (OMP)
Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (UT3)
Université de Toulouse (UT)-Université de Toulouse (UT)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Centre National d'Études Spatiales [Toulouse] (CNES)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Météo-France -Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-École polytechnique (X)-Université Paris-Saclay-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
Source :
Annales Geophysicae, Vol 27, Pp 4257-4272 (2009), Annales Geophysicae, Annales Geophysicae, European Geosciences Union, 2009, 27 (11), pp.4257-4272. ⟨10.5194/angeo-27-4257-2009⟩, ResearcherID, Annales Geophysicae, 2009, 27 (11), pp.4257-4272. ⟨10.5194/angeo-27-4257-2009⟩
Publication Year :
2009
Publisher :
Copernicus Publications, 2009.

Abstract

The Cassini mission has provided much information about the Titan environment, with numerous low altitude encounters with the moon being always inside the magnetosphere. The only encounter taking place outside the magnetopause, in the magnetosheath, occurred the 13 June 2007 (T32 flyby). This paper is dedicated to the analysis of the Radio and Plasma Wave investigation data during this specific encounter, in particular with the Langmuir probe, providing a detailed picture of the cold plasma environment and of Titan's ionosphere with these unique plasma conditions. The various pressure terms were also calculated during the flyby. The comparison with the T30 flyby, whose geometry was very similar to the T32 encounter but where Titan was immersed in the kronian magnetosphere, reveals that the evolution of the incident plasma has a significant influence on the structure of the ionosphere, with in particular a change of the exo-ionospheric shape. The electrical conductivities are given along the trajectory of the spacecraft and the discovery of a polar plasma cavity is reported.

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
14320576 and 09927689
Volume :
27
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Annales Geophysicae
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....b4520239e59e46a16d7e332562492f44