The Cushion Region and Dayside Magnetodisc Structure at Saturn
Abstract A sustained quasi‐dipolar magnetic field between the current sheet outer edge and the magnetopause, known as a cushion region, has previously been observed at Jupiter, but not yet at Saturn. Using the complete Cassini magnetometer data, the first evidence of a cushion region forming at Satu...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2021-03-01
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| Series: | Geophysical Research Letters |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091796 |
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| author | N. R. Staniland M. K. Dougherty A. Masters N. Achilleos |
| author_facet | N. R. Staniland M. K. Dougherty A. Masters N. Achilleos |
| author_sort | N. R. Staniland |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract A sustained quasi‐dipolar magnetic field between the current sheet outer edge and the magnetopause, known as a cushion region, has previously been observed at Jupiter, but not yet at Saturn. Using the complete Cassini magnetometer data, the first evidence of a cushion region forming at Saturn is shown. Only five examples of a sustained cushion are found, revealing this phenomenon to be rare. Four of the cushion regions are identified at dusk and one pre‐noon. It is suggested that greater heating of plasma post‐noon coupled with the expansion of the field through the afternoon sector makes the disc more unstable in this region. These results highlight a key difference between the Saturn and Jupiter systems. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-8654ee296cb94a2e907189773dfd4087 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 0094-8276 1944-8007 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-03-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Geophysical Research Letters |
| spelling | doaj-art-8654ee296cb94a2e907189773dfd40872025-08-20T01:48:15ZengWileyGeophysical Research Letters0094-82761944-80072021-03-01486n/an/a10.1029/2020GL091796The Cushion Region and Dayside Magnetodisc Structure at SaturnN. R. Staniland0M. K. Dougherty1A. Masters2N. Achilleos3Blackett Laboratory Imperial College London London UKBlackett Laboratory Imperial College London London UKBlackett Laboratory Imperial College London London UKDepartment of Physics and Astronomy University College London London UKAbstract A sustained quasi‐dipolar magnetic field between the current sheet outer edge and the magnetopause, known as a cushion region, has previously been observed at Jupiter, but not yet at Saturn. Using the complete Cassini magnetometer data, the first evidence of a cushion region forming at Saturn is shown. Only five examples of a sustained cushion are found, revealing this phenomenon to be rare. Four of the cushion regions are identified at dusk and one pre‐noon. It is suggested that greater heating of plasma post‐noon coupled with the expansion of the field through the afternoon sector makes the disc more unstable in this region. These results highlight a key difference between the Saturn and Jupiter systems.https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091796cushionheatinginstabilitymagnetodiscmagnetosphereSaturn |
| spellingShingle | N. R. Staniland M. K. Dougherty A. Masters N. Achilleos The Cushion Region and Dayside Magnetodisc Structure at Saturn Geophysical Research Letters cushion heating instability magnetodisc magnetosphere Saturn |
| title | The Cushion Region and Dayside Magnetodisc Structure at Saturn |
| title_full | The Cushion Region and Dayside Magnetodisc Structure at Saturn |
| title_fullStr | The Cushion Region and Dayside Magnetodisc Structure at Saturn |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Cushion Region and Dayside Magnetodisc Structure at Saturn |
| title_short | The Cushion Region and Dayside Magnetodisc Structure at Saturn |
| title_sort | cushion region and dayside magnetodisc structure at saturn |
| topic | cushion heating instability magnetodisc magnetosphere Saturn |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL091796 |
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