Observations of Saturn’s foreshock boundary

ANDRÉS NAHUEL; DANIEL O. GOMEZ; CESAR BERTUCCI; CHRISTIAN MAZELLE; MICHELLE DOUGBERTY

Trieste

Conferencia; School and Conference on Analytical and Computational Astrophysics (Ref: smr 2292); 2011

ICTP

Since July 2004, the Cassini spacecraft has characterized the Saturnian plasma environment including its upstream region. The purpose of the present study is to characterize the properties of waves observed in Saturn's ULF foreshock by the Vector Helium Magnetometer (VHM) onboard Cassini from Saturn Orbit Insertion until August 2005. The amplitude of these waves is usually comparable to the mean magnetic field intensity, while their frequencies are comparable or somewhat smaller than the local proton cyclotron value. We use the single spacecraft techniques already used for the Earth's foreshock to identify the outer boundary of Saturn's ULF foreshock. Our results show the existence of a clear boundary for Saturn's ULF foreshock, with characteristics similar to the Earth's foreshock.