Cassini observations of the thermal plasma in the vicinity of Saturn's main rings and the F and G rings
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- R. L. Tokar
- Space Science and Applications Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos New Mexico USA
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- R. E. Johnson
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia USA
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- M. F. Thomsen
- Space Science and Applications Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos New Mexico USA
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- D. M. Delapp
- Space Science and Applications Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos New Mexico USA
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- R. A. Baragiola
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia USA
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- M. F. Francis
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering University of Virginia Charlottesville Virginia USA
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- D. B. Reisenfeld
- Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Montana Missoula Montana USA
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- B. A. Fish
- Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Montana Missoula Montana USA
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- D. T. Young
- Southwest Research Institute San Antonio Texas USA
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- F. J. Crary
- Southwest Research Institute San Antonio Texas USA
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- A. J. Coates
- Mullard Space Science Laboratory University College London Surrey UK
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- D. A. Gurnett
- Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Iowa Iowa City Iowa USA
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- W. S. Kurth
- Department of Physics and Astronomy University of Iowa Iowa City Iowa USA
書誌事項
- 公開日
- 2005-06-11
- 権利情報
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- http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor
- DOI
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- 10.1029/2005gl022690
- 公開者
- American Geophysical Union (AGU)
この論文をさがす
説明
<jats:p>The ion mass spectrometer on Cassini detected enhanced ion flux near Saturn's main rings that is consistent with the presence of atomic and molecular oxygen ions in the thermal plasma. The ring “atmosphere” and “ionosphere” are likely produced by UV photosputtering of the icy rings and subsequent photoionization of O<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>. The identification of the O<jats:sup>+</jats:sup> and O<jats:sub>2</jats:sub><jats:sup>+</jats:sup> ions is made using time‐of‐flight analysis and densities and temperatures are derived from the ion counting data. The ion temperatures over the main rings are a minimum near synchronous orbit and increase with radial distance from Saturn as expected from ion pick up in Saturn's magnetic field. The O<jats:sub>2</jats:sub><jats:sup>+</jats:sup> temperatures provide an estimate of the neutral O<jats:sub>2</jats:sub> temperature over the main rings. The ion mass spectrometer also detected significant O<jats:sub>2</jats:sub><jats:sup>+</jats:sup> outside of the main rings, near the F ring. It is concluded that between the F and G rings, the heavy ion population most likely consists of an admixture of O<jats:sub>2</jats:sub><jats:sup>+</jats:sup> and water group ions O<jats:sup>+</jats:sup>, OH<jats:sup>+</jats:sup>, and H<jats:sub>2</jats:sub>O<jats:sup>+</jats:sup>.</jats:p>
収録刊行物
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- Geophysical Research Letters
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Geophysical Research Letters 32 (14), L14S04-, 2005-06-11
American Geophysical Union (AGU)