The plasma interaction of Enceladus: 3D hybrid simulations and comparison with Cassini MAG data

Kriegel, H.; Simon, Sven; Müller, Jakob; Motschmann, U.; Saur, Joachim; Glaßmeier, K.‐H.; Dougherty, M. K.

doi:10.1016/j.pss.2009.09.025

Cited by 54 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…This method has been successfully applied to study the plasma environment of several inert moons, e.g. Roussos et al [25] and Kriegel et al [18].…”

Section: Boundary Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The hybrid model by Kallio and Janhunen [15] uses hierarchical meshes while the hybrid model of Bagdonat and Motschmann [3] applies curvilinear meshes. The latter model has been successfully applied to numerous scenarios such as comets [3], asteroids [28], Mars [7] and several Saturnian moons such as Titan [29], Rhea [25] and Enceladus [18]. The underlying numerical mesh is static in time but curvilinear in space thereby improving the resolution in critical regions such as ionospheres or magnetospheres.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A.I.K.E.F.: Adaptive hybrid model for space plasma simulations

Müller

Simon

Motschmann

et al. 2011

Computer Physics Communications

127

150

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“…This method has been successfully applied to study the plasma environment of several inert moons, e.g. Roussos et al [25] and Kriegel et al [18].…”

Section: Boundary Conditionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A.I.K.E.F.: Adaptive hybrid model for space plasma simulations

Müller

Simon

Motschmann

et al. 2011

Computer Physics Communications

127

150

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“…Hints for a Callisto footprint have been reported by Clarke et al (2011). Recently, Cassini spacecraft observations identified a significant sub-Alfvénic interaction at Saturn's satellite Enceladus generated by geyser activity near its south pole (Dougherty et al 2006;Tokar et al 2006;Khurana et al 2007;Saur et al 2007Saur et al , 2008Kriegel et al 2009;Jia et al 2010;Simon et al 2011a). The Alfvén waves launched near Enceladus also generate footprints in Saturn's upper atmosphere as recently discovered (Pryor et al 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Magnetic energy fluxes in sub-Alfvénic planet star and moon planet interactions

Saur

Grambusch

Duling

et al. 2013

A&A

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164

326

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Context. Electromagnetic coupling of planetary moons with their host planets is well observed in our solar system. Similar couplings of extrasolar planets with their central stars have been studied observationally on an individual as well as on a statistical basis. Aims. We aim to model and to better understand the energetics of planet star and moon planet interactions on an individual and as well as on a statistical basis. Methods. We derived analytic expressions for the Poynting flux communicating magnetic field energy from the planetary obstacle to the central body for sub-Alfvénic interaction. We additionally present simplified, readily useable approximations for the total Poynting flux for small Alfvén Mach numbers. These energy fluxes were calculated near the obstacles and thus likely present upper limits for the fluxes arriving at the central body. We applied these expressions to satellites of our solar system and to HD 179949 b. We also performed a statistical analysis for 850 extrasolar planets. Results. Our derived Poynting fluxes compare well with the energetics and luminosities of the satellites' footprints observed at Jupiter and Saturn. We find that 295 of 850 extrasolar planets are possibly subject to sub-Alfvénic plasma interactions with their stellar winds, but only 258 can magnetically connect to their central stars due to the orientations of the associated Alfvén wings. The total energy fluxes in the magnetic coupling of extrasolar planets vary by many orders of magnitude and can reach values larger than 10 19 W. Our calculated energy fluxes generated at HD 179949 b can only explain the observed energy fluxes for exotic planetary and stellar magnetic field properties. In this case, additional energy sources triggered by the Alfvén wave energy launched at the extrasolar planet might be necessary. We provide a list of extrasolar planets where we expect planet star coupling to exhibit the largest energy fluxes. As supplementary information we also attach a table of the modeled stellar wind plasma properties and possible Poynting fluxes near all 850 extrasolar planets included in our study. Conclusions. The orders of magnitude variations in the values for the total Poynting fluxes even for close-in extrasolar planets provide a natural explanation why planet star coupling might have been only observable on an individual basis but not on a statistical basis.

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“…On the one hand, the gas plume constitutes an obstacle for the corotational Kronian plasma. The deflected plasma forms a system of currents that lead to measurable deviations in the planetary dipolar magnetic field and the corotational electric field (Dougherty et al, 2006;Kriegel et al, 2009Kriegel et al, , 2011Jia et al, 2010) and charge exchange collisions lead to an effective deceleration of the corotational plasma. On the other hand, the plume gas feeds a neutral torus around the orbit of Enceladus (Burger et al, 2007;Fleshman et al, 2010).…”

Section: Plume Interaction With the Magnetospherementioning

confidence: 99%

Science goals and mission concept for the future exploration of Titan and Enceladus

Tobie¹,

Teanby²,

Coustenis³

et al. 2014

Planetary and Space Science

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Saturn's moons, Titan and Enceladus, are two of the Solar System's most enigmatic bodies and are prime targets for future space exploration. Titan provides an analogue for many processes relevant to the Earth, more generally to outer Solar System bodies, and a growing host of newly discovered icy exoplanets. Processes represented include: atmospheric dynamics, complex organic chemistry, meteorological cycles (with methane as a working fluid), astrobiology, surface liquids and lakes, geology, fluvial and aeolian erosion, and interactions with an external plasma environment. In addition, exploring Enceladus over multiple targeted flybys will give us a unique opportunity to further study the most active icy moon in our Solar System as revealed by Cassini and to analyse in situ its active plume with highly capable instrumentation addressing its complex chemistry and dynamics. Enceladus' plume likely represents the most accessible samples from an extra-terrestrial liquid water environment in the Solar system, which has far reaching implications for many areas of planetary and biological science. Titan with its massive atmosphere and Enceladus with its active plume are prime planetary objects in the Outer Solar System to perform in situ investigations. In the present paper, we describe the science goals and key measurements to be

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The plasma interaction of Enceladus: 3D hybrid simulations and comparison with Cassini MAG data

Cited by 54 publications

References 27 publications

A.I.K.E.F.: Adaptive hybrid model for space plasma simulations

A.I.K.E.F.: Adaptive hybrid model for space plasma simulations

Magnetic energy fluxes in sub-Alfvénic planet star and moon planet interactions

Science goals and mission concept for the future exploration of Titan and Enceladus

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