Related papers: Titan interaction with the supersonic solar wind
The magnetospheric cusps are important sites of the coupling of a magnetosphere with the solar wind. The combination of both ground- and space-based observations at Earth have enabled considerable progress to be made in understanding the…
The interaction between the solar wind and a magnetosphere is fundamental to the dynamics of a planetary system. Here, we address fundamental questions on the large-scale magnetosheath flow around Saturn using a 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD)…
A planet's magnetosheath extends from downstream of its bow shock up to the magnetopause where the solar wind flow is deflected around the magnetosphere and the solar wind embedded magnetic field lines are draped. This makes the region an…
The last 22.5 orbits of the Cassini mission brought the spacecraft to less than 3000 km from Saturn's 1-bar surface. These close encounters offered an unprecedented view of Saturn's magnetic field, including contributions from the internal…
Plasma rotation plays a large role in determining the size and shape of Saturn's disc-like magnetosphere. A magnetosphere more confined to the equator in the polar regions is expected as a result of the interaction between this type of…
A significant difference in Titan's ionospheric electron density is observed between the T118 and T119 Cassini nightside flybys. These flybys had similar geometry, occurred at the same Saturn local time and while Titan was exposed to…
The Cassini spacecraft's Grand Finale flybys through Saturn's ionosphere provided unprecedented insight into the composition and dynamics of the gas giant's upper atmosphere and a novel and complex spacecraft-plasma interaction. In this…
Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental process in solar system and astrophysical plasmas, through which stored magnetic energy associated with current sheets is converted into thermal, kinetic and wave energy. Magnetic reconnection is also…
The atmosphere of Saturn's largest moon Titan is driven by photochemistry, charged particle precipitation from Saturn's upstream magnetosphere, and presumably by the diffusion of the magnetospheric field into the outer ionosphere, amongst…
Looking at the Mars-solar wind interaction on a larger spatial scale than the near Mars region, the planet can be seen as an ion source interacting with the solar wind, in many ways like a comet, but with a smaller ion source region. Here…
We use Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN observations of the upstream solar wind, and Mars Express observations of ionospheric electron densities and magnetic fields, to study how the topside ionosphere ($>$ 320 km) of Mars is affected…
Titan is the only moon with a substantial atmosphere, the only other thick N$_{2}$ atmosphere besides Earth's, the site of extraordinarily complex atmospheric chemistry that far surpasses any other solar system atmosphere, and the only…
Saturn's moon Titan possesses stratospheric zonal winds that places it among a sparse class of planetary bodies known to have superrotation in their atmospheres. Few measurements have been made of these speeds in the upper stratosphere,…
Magnetic field structure observed in numerous Cassini flybys in the region of Titan interaction with the corotating flow of Kronian magnetosheric plasma contradicts the classical picture of the ideal induced magnetosphere produced by the…
The Martian magnetosheath acts as a conduit for mass and energy transfer between the upstream solar wind and its induced magnetosphere. However, our understanding of its global properties remains limited. Using nine years of data from…
The outer heliosphere is a dynamic region shaped largely by the interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium. While interplanetary magnetic field and plasma observations by the Voyager spacecraft have significantly…
When the solar wind interacts with the ionosphere of an unmagnetized planet, it induces currents that form an induced magnetosphere. These currents and their associated magnetic fields play a pivotal role in controlling the movement of…
Saturn's largest satellite, Titan, has stratospheric wind speeds that may be up to ~210 m/sec [1], circling Titan in about a day compared to Titan's slow 16-day rotation. Theoretical models to explain such super-rotating winds are not well…
A large drift in the rotation rate of Titan observed by Cassini provided the first evidence of a subsurface ocean isolating the massive core from the icy crust. Seasonal exchange of angular momentum between the surface and atmosphere…
A three-dimensional, multifluid simulation of a giant planet's magnetospheric interaction with steady-state stellar wind from a Sun-like star was performed for four different orbital semi-major axes - 10, 5, 1 and 0.2 AU. We simulate the…