Discontinuities in the magnetic field near Enceladus - Kölner UniversitätsPublikationsServer

Simon, Sven ORCID: 0000-0002-6204-5437, Saur, Joachim ORCID: 0000-0003-1413-1231, van Treeck, Shari C., Kriegel, Hendrik and Dougherty, Michele K. (2014). Discontinuities in the magnetic field near Enceladus. Geophys. Res. Lett., 41 (10). S. 3359 - 3367. WASHINGTON: AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION. ISSN 1944-8007

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DOI:10.1002/2014GL060081

Abstract

The plasma interaction of Saturn's icy moon Enceladus generates a hemisphere coupling current system that directly connects the giant planet's northern and southern polar magnetosphere. Based on Cassini magnetometer observations from all 20 targeted Enceladus flybys between 2004 and 2014, we study the magnetic field discontinuities associated with these hemisphere coupling currents. We identify a total number of 11 events during which the magnetic field was discontinuous at the surface of the Enceladus flux tube (defined by the bundle of magnetic field lines tangential to the solid body of the moon). A minimum variance analysis is applied to calculate the surface normals of these discontinuities. In agreement with theoretical expectations, the normals are found to be perpendicular to the surface of the Enceladus flux tube. The variation of the hemisphere coupling currents with Enceladean longitude leaves a clear imprint in the strengths of the observed magnetic field jumps as well.

Item Type:

Journal Article

Creators:

Creators	Email	ORCID	ORCID Put Code
Simon, Sven	UNSPECIFIED	orcid.org/0000-0002-6204-5437	UNSPECIFIED
Saur, Joachim	UNSPECIFIED	orcid.org/0000-0003-1413-1231	UNSPECIFIED
van Treeck, Shari C.	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Kriegel, Hendrik	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED
Dougherty, Michele K.	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED	UNSPECIFIED