Supercorotating return flow from reconnection in Saturn's magnetotail

Physics

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Rights statement: Copyright 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.
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https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL046149
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Keywords

magnetosphere, dynamics, Vasliunas cycle, supercorotation

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Supercorotating return flow from reconnection in Saturn's magnetotail. / Masters, A.; Thomsen, M. F.; Badman, S. V. et al.
In: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 38, No. 3, L03103, 02.2011.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review

Harvard

Masters, A, Thomsen, MF, Badman, SV, Arridge, CS, Young, DT, Coates, AJ & Dougherty, MK 2011, 'Supercorotating return flow from reconnection in Saturn's magnetotail', Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 38, no. 3, L03103. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL046149

APA

Masters, A., Thomsen, M. F., Badman, S. V., Arridge, C. S., Young, D. T., Coates, A. J., & Dougherty, M. K. (2011). Supercorotating return flow from reconnection in Saturn's magnetotail. Geophysical Research Letters, 38(3), Article L03103. https://doi.org/10.1029/2010GL046149

Vancouver

Masters A, Thomsen MF, Badman SV, Arridge CS, Young DT, Coates AJ et al. Supercorotating return flow from reconnection in Saturn's magnetotail. Geophysical Research Letters. 2011 Feb;38(3):L03103. doi: 10.1029/2010GL046149

Author

Masters, A. ; Thomsen, M. F. ; Badman, S. V. et al. / Supercorotating return flow from reconnection in Saturn's magnetotail. In: Geophysical Research Letters. 2011 ; Vol. 38, No. 3.

Bibtex

@article{902783720ba4463e80a7a7ba336aeb71,

title = "Supercorotating return flow from reconnection in Saturn's magnetotail",

abstract = "Detecting plasma dynamics in Saturn's magnetosphere is essential for understanding energy flow through the system. It has been proposed that both the Dungey and Vasyliunas cycles operate at Saturn, and the competition between these cycles has been debated. We examine data taken by the Cassini spacecraft in Saturn's post-dawn magnetosphere, ∼17.5 Saturn radii from the planet, and identify an example of return flow from magnetotail reconnection. The flow included water group ions and had elevated ion temperatures (of order 1 keV), consistent with Vasyliunas cycle return flow. The flow was also supercorotating (∼200 km s−1, ∼120% of corotation), which is highly atypical of Saturn's outer magnetosphere. Our results suggest that return flows are time-variable, and our results concerning Dungey cycle return flows are inconclusive. We propose that supercorotating flows in Saturn's dawn magnetosphere strongly influence the current system that is responsible for the planet's main auroral emission.",

keywords = "magnetosphere, dynamics, Vasliunas cycle, supercorotation",

author = "A. Masters and Thomsen, {M. F.} and Badman, {S. V.} and Arridge, {C. S.} and Young, {D. T.} and Coates, {A. J.} and Dougherty, {M. K.}",

year = "2011",

month = feb,

doi = "10.1029/2010GL046149",

language = "English",

volume = "38",

journal = "Geophysical Research Letters",

issn = "0094-8276",

publisher = "John Wiley & Sons, Ltd",

number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Supercorotating return flow from reconnection in Saturn's magnetotail

AU - Masters, A.

AU - Thomsen, M. F.

AU - Badman, S. V.

AU - Arridge, C. S.

AU - Young, D. T.

AU - Coates, A. J.

AU - Dougherty, M. K.

PY - 2011/2

Y1 - 2011/2

N2 - Detecting plasma dynamics in Saturn's magnetosphere is essential for understanding energy flow through the system. It has been proposed that both the Dungey and Vasyliunas cycles operate at Saturn, and the competition between these cycles has been debated. We examine data taken by the Cassini spacecraft in Saturn's post-dawn magnetosphere, ∼17.5 Saturn radii from the planet, and identify an example of return flow from magnetotail reconnection. The flow included water group ions and had elevated ion temperatures (of order 1 keV), consistent with Vasyliunas cycle return flow. The flow was also supercorotating (∼200 km s−1, ∼120% of corotation), which is highly atypical of Saturn's outer magnetosphere. Our results suggest that return flows are time-variable, and our results concerning Dungey cycle return flows are inconclusive. We propose that supercorotating flows in Saturn's dawn magnetosphere strongly influence the current system that is responsible for the planet's main auroral emission.

AB - Detecting plasma dynamics in Saturn's magnetosphere is essential for understanding energy flow through the system. It has been proposed that both the Dungey and Vasyliunas cycles operate at Saturn, and the competition between these cycles has been debated. We examine data taken by the Cassini spacecraft in Saturn's post-dawn magnetosphere, ∼17.5 Saturn radii from the planet, and identify an example of return flow from magnetotail reconnection. The flow included water group ions and had elevated ion temperatures (of order 1 keV), consistent with Vasyliunas cycle return flow. The flow was also supercorotating (∼200 km s−1, ∼120% of corotation), which is highly atypical of Saturn's outer magnetosphere. Our results suggest that return flows are time-variable, and our results concerning Dungey cycle return flows are inconclusive. We propose that supercorotating flows in Saturn's dawn magnetosphere strongly influence the current system that is responsible for the planet's main auroral emission.

KW - magnetosphere

KW - dynamics

KW - Vasliunas cycle

KW - supercorotation

U2 - 10.1029/2010GL046149

DO - 10.1029/2010GL046149

M3 - Journal article

VL - 38

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

SN - 0094-8276

IS - 3

M1 - L03103

ER -

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