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Plasma convection in Neptune's magnetosphere
Author(s) -
Selesnick R. S.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl017i010p01681
Subject(s) - magnetosphere , physics , neptune , plasma , convection , planet , ionosphere , torus , cyclotron , magnetosphere of jupiter , magnetic field , particle acceleration , geophysics , computational physics , astrophysics , mechanics , nuclear physics , magnetopause , geometry , mathematics , quantum mechanics
The magnetosphere of Neptune changes its magnetic configuration continuously as the planet rotates, leading to a strong modulation of the convection electric field. Even though the corotation speed is considerably larger, the modulation causes the small convection speed to have a cumulative effect, much like the acceleration of particles in a cyclotron. A model calculation shows that plasma on one side of the planet convects out of the magnetosphere in a few planetary rotations, while on the other side it convects slowly planetward. The observation of nitrogen ions from a Triton plasma torus may provide a test of the model.