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Whistler waves associated with the Uranian bow shock - Outbound observationsHigh-resolution magnetic field measurements from the first outbound crossing of the Uranian bowshock by the Voyager 2 spacecraft between January 27 and 30, 1986, are examined. Evidence is found of enhanced whistler wave activity in the vicinity of three shock crossings but little or no evidence of such activity elsewhere. Two wave events display two separate and simultaneous wave enhancements each. From an investigation of these events using high-resolution field data, it is concluded that they are analogous to those whistler waves upstream of the earth's bow shock that are driven by beams of electrons. An instability analysis is presented to show that a single electron beam with reasonable parameters can penetrate both of the upstream and downstream of a shock crossing. This event displays only one relatively broad spectral enhancement in the same frequency regime and is left-hand polarized in the spacecraft frame. It is argued that this event is the result of a gyrating proton distribution associated with the oblique shock.
Document ID
19910067367
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Smith, Charles W.
(Bartol Research Institute Newark, DE, United States)
Wong, Hung K.
(Southwest Research Institute San Antonio, TX, United States)
Goldstein, Melvyn L.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 14, 2013
Publication Date
September 1, 1991
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 96
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Exploration
Accession Number
91A51990
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: JPL-957921
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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