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Conditions at the magnetopause of Saturn and implications for the solar wind interaction
Author(s) -
Desroche M.,
Bagenal F.,
Delamere P. A.,
Erkaev N.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1002/jgra.50294
Subject(s) - magnetopause , magnetosheath , magnetosphere of saturn , physics , solar wind , magnetosphere , geophysics , magnetosphere of jupiter , magnetic reconnection , interplanetary magnetic field , polar wind , bow shock (aerodynamics) , computational physics , astrophysics , mechanics , plasma , quantum mechanics , shock wave
Using idealized models of the magnetosheath and magnetospheric magnetic fields, plasma densities, and plasma flow, we test for the steady state viability of processes mediating the interaction between the solar wind and the magnetosphere of Saturn. The magnetopause is modeled as an asymmetric paraboloid with a standoff distance of ∼25 R S . We test where on the magnetopause surface large‒scale reconnection may be affected by either a shear flow or diamagnetic drift due to a pressure gradient across the magnetopause boundary. We also test for the onset of the Kelvin‒Helmholtz instability. We find that, for the solar wind and magnetosphere states considered, reconnection is inhibited on the dawn flank due to the large shear flows in this region. Additionally, most of the dawn and dusk equatorial region of the magnetopause is Kelvin‒Helmholtz unstable, due to the presence of the dense magnetospheric plasma sheet and weak magnetic fields on either side of the magnetopause. This study is a follow‒up to a previously published study of the solar wind interaction with Jupiter's magnetosphere.