Rights statement: This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication/published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac26b5
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Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - A Rotating Azimuthally Distributed Auroral Current System on Saturn Revealed by the Cassini Spacecraft
AU - Guo, R. L.
AU - Yao, Z. H.
AU - Dunn, W.R.
AU - Palmaerts, B.
AU - Sergis, N.
AU - Grodent, D. C.
AU - Badman, Sarah
AU - Ye, S.-Y.
AU - Pu, Zu-Yin
AU - Mitchell, D. G.
AU - Zhang, B. Z.
AU - Achilleos, N
AU - Coates, A.J.
AU - Wei, Y.
AU - Waite, J.H.
AU - Krupp, N.
AU - Dougherty, M.K.
N1 - This is an author-created, un-copyedited version of an article accepted for publication/published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. IOP Publishing Ltd is not responsible for any errors or omissions in this version of the manuscript or any version derived from it. The Version of Record is available online at doi: 10.3847/2041-8213/ac26b5
PY - 2021/10/1
Y1 - 2021/10/1
N2 - Stunning aurorae are mainly produced when accelerated electrons travel along magnetic field lines to collide with the atmosphere. The motion of electrons often corresponds to the evolution of a magnetic field-aligned current system. In the terrestrial magnetosphere, the current system is formed at the night-side sector, and thus produces an auroral bulge at night. Due to the different energy sources between Saturn and the Earth, it is expected that their auroral current systems are fundamentally different, although the specific auroral driver at Saturn is poorly understood. Using simultaneous measurements of the aurora, particles, magnetic fields, and energetic neutral atoms, we reveal that a chain of paired currents, each of which includes a downward and an upward current branch, is formed in Saturn's magnetosphere, which generates separated auroral patches. These findings inform similar auroral current structures between the Earth and Saturn, while the difference is that Saturn's unique mass and energy sources lead to a rotational characteristic.
AB - Stunning aurorae are mainly produced when accelerated electrons travel along magnetic field lines to collide with the atmosphere. The motion of electrons often corresponds to the evolution of a magnetic field-aligned current system. In the terrestrial magnetosphere, the current system is formed at the night-side sector, and thus produces an auroral bulge at night. Due to the different energy sources between Saturn and the Earth, it is expected that their auroral current systems are fundamentally different, although the specific auroral driver at Saturn is poorly understood. Using simultaneous measurements of the aurora, particles, magnetic fields, and energetic neutral atoms, we reveal that a chain of paired currents, each of which includes a downward and an upward current branch, is formed in Saturn's magnetosphere, which generates separated auroral patches. These findings inform similar auroral current structures between the Earth and Saturn, while the difference is that Saturn's unique mass and energy sources lead to a rotational characteristic.
KW - Planetary magnetospheres
KW - Saturn
KW - Aurorae
U2 - 10.3847/2041-8213/ac26b5
DO - 10.3847/2041-8213/ac26b5
M3 - Journal article
VL - 919
JO - Astrophysical Journal Letters
JF - Astrophysical Journal Letters
SN - 2041-8205
IS - 2
M1 - L25
ER -