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Composition of Upstream Flow for Titan's Interaction with Saturn's Magnetosphere during T9 FlybyAs described in Bertucci et al. [2007] Saturn's magnetic field is stretched out into a magnetodisk configuration where the field is confined near the equatorial plane with Titan below the current sheet. As discussed in Maurice et al. [1996] for Jupiter's outer magnetosphere where magnetodisk configuration applies the heavy ions are confined within 2 deg of the current sheet and at higher latitudes protons dominate. We show compositional evidence from the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) Ion Mass Spectrometer (IMS) that protons dominate the ion composition for the upstream flow, while in pickup region H2+ and protons dominate. If true, then we expect a far different interaction between Saturn's magnetosphere and Titan's upper atmosphere and exosphere, where heavy ions are essentially absent.
Document ID
20080037613
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Sittler, Edward C.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Hartle, Richard E.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Lipatov, A
(Maryland Univ. Baltimore County Baltimore, MD, United States)
Bertucci, C.
(Imperial Coll. of London London, United Kingdom)
Coates, A.
(University Coll. London, United Kingdom)
Szego, K.
(Hungarian Academy of Sciences Budapest, Hungary)
Shappirio, Mark D.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Simpson, David G.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 24, 2013
Publication Date
May 26, 2008
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Meeting Information
Meeting: Joint meeting of the American Astronautical Society/Science Programs Division, American Geophysical Union
Location: Fort Lauderdale, Fl
Country: United States
Start Date: May 26, 2008
End Date: May 30, 2008
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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