Journal
PLANETARY AND SPACE SCIENCE
Volume 57, Issue 14-15, Pages 2113-2122Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.pss.2009.09.025
Keywords
Cassini; Enceladus; Plume; Hybrid; Simulation; Moon-magnetosphere interactions
Categories
Funding
- Deutsche Forschungsgenleinschaft (DFG) [SA 1772/1-1, MO 539/16-1]
- German Ministeritum fur Wirtschaft and Technologie
- German Aerospace Center (DLR) [50 OH 9901/4]
- STFC [PP/D000912/1, PP/E001076/1] Funding Source: UKRI
- Science and Technology Facilities Council [PP/E001076/1, PP/D000912/1] Funding Source: researchfish
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We study the interaction of Saturn's small, icy moon Enceladus and its plume with the corotating magnetospheric plasma by means of a 3D hybrid simulation model, which treats the ions as individual particles and the electrons as a massless, charge-neutralizing fluid. We analyze systematically how Enceladus' internal conductivity and plasma absorption at the surface as well as charge exchange and pick-up in the plume contribute to the overall structure of the interaction region. Furthermore, we provide a comparison of our simulation results to data obtained by the Cassini magnetometer instrument. The major findings of this study are: (1) the magnetic field diffuses through the solid body of Enceladus almost unaffected, whereas plasma absorption gives rise to a symmetric depletion wake downstream of the moon; (2) due to the small gyroradii of the newly generated plume ions, the pick-up tail possesses a 2D structure; (3) the magnetic field lines drape around the plume, which triggers an Alfven wing system that dominates the structure of Enceladus' plasma environment. Inside the plume itself, a magnetic cavity is formed; (4) besides the reproduction of the key features of the observed magnetic field signatures, evidence for variability in the locations of the active jets and in the total gas content of the plume are shown. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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