The plasma environment of UranusAn overview of the observational results on the plasma environment at Uranus is given, and the implications of these observations for magnetospheric physics at Uranus are discussed. During the Voyager 2 encounter with Uranus, an extended magnetosphere filled with a tenuous plasma was detected. This low-energy plasma was found to consist of protons and electrons, with no significant heavy ion contribution, and with a density in the regions sampled by the spacecraft of at most three electrons per cubic centimeter. The plasma electrons and ions exhibit both a thermal component (with temperatures of tens of eV) and a hot component (with temperatures of a few keV). The thermal ion component is observed both inside and outside an L-shell value near 5, whereas the hot ion and electron component is excluded from the region inside of that L-shell. The source of the thermal component of the plasma is either the planetary ionosphere or the neutral hydrogen corona surrounding Uranus, whereas the hot component is convected in from the magnetotail, with probably an ionospheric source.
Document ID
19920036095
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Authors
Belcher, J. W. (Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, MA, United States)
Mcnutt, R. L., Jr. (Massachusetts Inst. of Tech. Cambridge, MA, United States)
Richardson, J. D. (MIT Cambridge, MA, United States)
Selesnick, R. S. (California Institute of Technology Pasadena, United States)
Sittler, E. C., Jr. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Bagenal, F. (Colorado, University Boulder, United States)