IAFE   05512
INSTITUTO DE ASTRONOMIA Y FISICA DEL ESPACIO
Unidad Ejecutora - UE
artículos
Título:
Hybrid simulation of Titan's interaction with the supersonic solar wind during Cassini's T96 flyby
Autor/es:
NEUBAUER, FRITZ M.; EDBERG, NIKLAS J. T.; FEYERABEND, MORITZ; MOTSCHMANN, UWE; HOSPODARSKY, GEORGE B.; SIMON, SVEN; BERTUCCI, CESAR; KURTH, WILLIAM S.
Revista:
GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
Editorial:
AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
Referencias:
Año: 2016 vol. 43 p. 35 - 42
ISSN:
0094-8276
Resumen:
By applying a hybrid (kinetic ions and fluid electrons) simulation code, we study the plasma environment of Saturn´s largest moon Titan during Cassini´s T96 flyby on 1 December 2013. The T96 encounter marks the only observed event of the entire Cassini mission where Titan was located in the supersonic solar wind in front of Saturn´s bow shock. Our simulations can quantitatively reproduce the key features of Cassini magnetic field and electron density observations during this encounter. We demonstrate that the large-scale features of Titan´s induced magnetosphere during T96 can be described in terms of a steady state interaction with a high-pressure solar wind flow. About 40 min before the encounter, Cassini observed a rotation of the incident solar wind magnetic field by almost 90°. We provide strong evidence that this rotation left a bundle of fossilized magnetic field lines in Titan´s ionosphere that was subsequently detected by the spacecraft.