Open AccessMeasuring plasma flowing through Saturn's magnetosphere
Author(s) -
Balcerak Ernie
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
eos, transactions american geophysical union
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.316
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 2324-9250
pISSN - 0096-3941
DOI - 10.1002/2014eo450011
Subject(s) - magnetosphere , magnetosphere of saturn , saturn , enceladus , physics , solar wind , magnetosphere of jupiter , plasma , astrobiology , polar wind , planet , astronomy , satellite , ionization , atmospheric sciences , ion , magnetopause , nuclear physics , quantum mechanics
In Saturn's magnetosphere, neutral water released from the moon Enceladus becomes ionized. Where does this ionized gas go? Previous studies have indicated that some of this plasma must flow away from the planet through the magnetosphere and become lost to the solar wind. Using measurements from the ion mass spectrometer on the Cassini satellite, Thomsen et al. quantify how much plasma drifts radially outward through Saturn's middle magnetosphere. They estimated the net mass loss between 1800 and 0300 local time to be about 34 kilograms per second. The new measurements are in agreement with a previous study that used a different analysis technique.