INVESTIGADORES
BERTUCCI Cesar
artículos
Título:
Cold ionospheric plasma in Titan's magnetotail
Autor/es:
WEI, H. Y.; RUSSELL, C. T.; WAHLUND, J.-E.; DOUGHERTY, M. K.; BERTUCCI, C.; MODOLO, R.; MA, Y. J.; NEUBAUER, F. M.
Revista:
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
Editorial:
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
Referencias:
Año: 2007
ISSN:
0094-8276
Resumen:
The interaction between Titan and the corotating Saturnian plasma forms
an induced magnetosphere with an elongated Alfven-wing-style
magnetotail. On 26 December 2005, the Cassini spacecraft flew through
Titan's magnetotail, providing the first distant tail observation, over
5 Titan radii downstream. We examine measurements observed by the
magnetometer and Langmuir probe during this pass. We use the direction
of the magnetic field along the trajectory to identify the source
regions of plasma reaching the spacecraft. Cold plasma, with a density
of about 10 cm-3, is found magnetically connected to the
ionosphere. Titan's ionosphere appears to be escaping along field lines
down the tail, leading to particle loss from the atmosphere.
