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Available under license: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
Final published version
Licence: CC BY: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
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 - Flux transfer event observation at Saturn's dayside magnetopause by the Cassini spacecraft
AU - Jasinski, Jamie M.
AU - Slavin, James A.
AU - Arridge, Christopher S.
AU - Poh, Gangkai
AU - Jia, Xianzhe
AU - Sergis, Nick
AU - Jones, Geraint H.
AU - Waite, J. Hunter
AU - Coates, A. J.
PY - 2016/7/6
Y1 - 2016/7/6
N2 - We present the first observation of a flux rope at Saturn's dayside magnetopause. This is an important result because it shows that the Saturnian magnetopause is conducive to multiple X-line reconnection and flux rope generation. Minimum variance analysis shows that the magnetic signature is consistent with a flux rope. The magnetic observations were well fitted to a constant-α force-free flux rope model. The radius and magnetic flux content of the rope are estimated to be 4600–8300 km and 0.2–0.8 MWb, respectively. Cassini also observed five traveling compression regions (remote signatures of flux ropes), in the adjacent magnetosphere. The magnetic flux content is compared to other estimates of flux opening via reconnection at Saturn.
AB - We present the first observation of a flux rope at Saturn's dayside magnetopause. This is an important result because it shows that the Saturnian magnetopause is conducive to multiple X-line reconnection and flux rope generation. Minimum variance analysis shows that the magnetic signature is consistent with a flux rope. The magnetic observations were well fitted to a constant-α force-free flux rope model. The radius and magnetic flux content of the rope are estimated to be 4600–8300 km and 0.2–0.8 MWb, respectively. Cassini also observed five traveling compression regions (remote signatures of flux ropes), in the adjacent magnetosphere. The magnetic flux content is compared to other estimates of flux opening via reconnection at Saturn.
U2 - 10.1002/2016GL069260
DO - 10.1002/2016GL069260
M3 - Journal article
VL - 43
JO - Geophysical Research Letters
JF - Geophysical Research Letters
SN - 0094-8276
ER -