Hybrid simulation of Titan's magnetic field signature during the Cassini T9 flyby

Simon, Sven; Kleindienst, G.; Boesswetter, A.; Bagdonat, T.; Motschmann, U.; Glaßmeier, K.‐H.; Schuele, J.; Bertucci, C.; Dougherty, M. K.

doi:10.1029/2007gl029967

Cited by 29 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…In this system then, the draping effect occurs on the XZ plane, adding a negligible effect to the Y component, and the tail current sheet is then parallel to the XY plane. Hence the orientation of the upstream field is important in establishing the location of the induced tail (Simon et al 2007;Winglee et al 2009) and can also generate asymmetries in the induced tail (Simon and Motschmann 2009).…”

Section: Key Processes In the Formation Of Titan's Induced Magnetospherementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The gyroradii of these particles, hence their energy spectra and the upstream magnetic field, is important in understanding where these particles will deposit their energy and hence how they might affect the energetics and loss of Titan's atmosphere (Sittler et al 2009, and references therein). The position of the various plasma boundaries in Titan's induced magnetosphere are strongly affected by the temperature of the upstream ions (Simon et al 2007). …”

Section: Key Processes In the Formation Of Titan's Induced Magnetospherementioning

confidence: 99%

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Upstream of Saturn and Titan

et al. 2011

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The formation of Titan's induced magnetosphere is a unique and important example in the solar system of a plasma-moon interaction where the moon has a substantial atmosphere. The field and particle conditions upstream of Titan are important in controlling the interaction and also play a strong role in modulating the chemistry of the ionosphere. In this paper we review Titan's plasma interaction to identify important upstream parameters and review the physics of Saturn's magnetosphere near Titan's orbit to highlight how these upstream parameters may vary. We discuss the conditions upstream of Saturn in the solar wind and the conditions found in Saturn's magnetosheath. Statistical work on Titan's upstream magnetospheric fields and particles are discussed. Finally, various classification schemes are presented and combined into a single list of Cassini Titan encounter classes which is also used to highlight differences between these classification schemes.

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Section: Key Processes In the Formation Of Titan's Induced Magnetospherementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Key Processes In the Formation Of Titan's Induced Magnetospherementioning

confidence: 99%

Upstream of Saturn and Titan

et al. 2011

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“…The results of this preceding study will therefore provide a reference for the interpretation of the T32 simulations presented in this paper. The hybrid model used for this study has also been successfully applied to quantitatively reproduce the magnetic field measurements during the Cassini T9 and T34 flybys of Titan (Simon et al, 2007c. Applications of our hybrid model to the plasma interactions of Mars (Bößwetter et al, 2004;Simon et al, 2007a;Bößwetter et al, 2007), of magnetized asteroids (Simon et al, 2006a) and comets (Bagdonat and Motschmann, 2002a,b;Bagdonat, 2005;Motschmann and Kührt, 2006) have also been published in recent years.…”

Section: Model Description and Simulation Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Titan's plasma environment during a magnetosheath excursion: Real-time scenarios for Cassini's T32 flyby from a hybrid simulation

et al. 2009

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Abstract. With a Saturnian magnetopause average stand-off distance of about 21 planetary radii, Titan spends most of its time inside the rotating magnetosphere of its parent planet. However, when Saturn's magnetosphere is compressed due to high solar wind dynamic pressure, Titan can cross Saturn's magnetopause in the subsolar region of its orbit and therefore to interact with the shocked solar wind plasma in Saturn's magnetosheath. This situation has been observed during the T32 flyby of the Cassini spacecraft on 13 June 2007. Until a few minutes before closest approach, Titan had been located inside the Saturnian magnetosphere. During the flyby, Titan encountered a sudden change in the direction and magnitude of the ambient magnetic field. The density of the ambient plasma also increased dramatically during the pass. Thus, the moon's exosphere and ionosphere were exposed to a sudden change in the upstream plasma conditions. The resulting reconfiguration of Titan's plasma tail has been studied in real-time by using a three-dimensional, multi-species hybrid simulation model. The hybrid approximation treats the electrons of the plasma as a massless, charge-neutralizing fluid, while ion dynamics are described by a kinetic approach. In the simulations, the magnetopause crossing is modeled by a sudden change of the upstream magnetic field vector as well as a modification of the upstream plasma composition. We present real-time simulation results, illustrating how Titan's induced magnetotail is reconfigured due to magnetic reconnection. The simulations allow to determine a characteristic Correspondence to: S. Simon (sven.simon@tu-bs.de) time scale for the erosion of the original magnetic draping pattern that commences after Titan has crossed Saturn's magnetopause. Besides, the influence of the plasma composition in the magnetosheath on the reconfiguration process is discussed in detail. The question of whether the magnetopause crossing is likely to yield a detachment of Titan's exospheric tail from the satellite is investigated as well.

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“…The interaction of the Kronian plasma with Titan is known to produce an induced magnetosphere about Titan itself. The characteristics of the induced magnetosphere have been examined using local models, including MHD codes (Nagy et al 2001;Kopp and Ip 2001;), hybrid codes (Brecht et al 2000;Ledvina et al 2004;Simon et al 2007) and multi-fluid simulations (Snowden et al 2007). In the latter, the ion tail at Titan was demonstrated to be several Saturn radii in length, which demonstrates that Titan's induced magnetosphere is not an insignificant contributor of plasma to the Kronian magnetosphere in which it is embedded.…”

Section: Moon-magnetosphere Interactionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

1. Transport of Mass, Momentum and Energy in Planetary Magnetodisc Regions

et al. 2014

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The rapid rotation of the gas giant planets, Jupiter and Saturn, leads to the formation of magnetodisc regions in their magnetospheric environments. In these regions, relatively cold plasma is confined towards the equatorial regions, and the magnetic field generated by the azimuthal (ring) current adds to the planetary dipole, forming radially distended field lines near the equatorial plane. The ensuing force balance in the equatorial magnetodisc is strongly influenced by centrifugal stress and by the thermal pressure of hot ion populations, whose thermal energy is large compared to the magnitude of their centrifugal potential energy. The sources of plasma for the Jovian and Kronian magnetospheres are the respective satellites Io (a volcanic moon) and Enceladus (an icy moon). The plasma produced by these N.

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Hybrid simulation of Titan's magnetic field signature during the Cassini T9 flyby

Cited by 29 publications

References 20 publications

Upstream of Saturn and Titan

Upstream of Saturn and Titan

Titan's plasma environment during a magnetosheath excursion: Real-time scenarios for Cassini's T32 flyby from a hybrid simulation

1. Transport of Mass, Momentum and Energy in Planetary Magnetodisc Regions

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