Guo, RL;
Yao, ZH;
Sergis, N;
Wei, Y;
Mitchell, D;
Roussos, E;
Palmaerts, B;
... Wan, WX; + view all
(2018)
Reconnection Acceleration in Saturn's Dayside Magnetodisk: A Multicase Study with Cassini.
Astrophysical Journal Letters
, 868
(2)
, Article L23. 10.3847/2041-8213/aaedab.
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Abstract
Recently, rotationally driven magnetic reconnection was first discovered in Saturn's dayside magnetosphere. This newly confirmed process could potentially drive bursty phenomena at Saturn, i.e., pulsating energetic particles and auroral emissions. Using Cassini's measurements of magnetic fields and charged particles, we investigate particle acceleration features during three magnetic reconnection events observed in Saturn's dayside magnetodisk. The results suggest that the rotationally driven reconnection process plays a key role in producing energetic electrons (up to 100 keV) and ions (several hundreds of kiloelectron volts). In particular, we find that energetic oxygen ions are locally accelerated at all three reconnection sites. Isolated, multiple reconnection sites were recorded in succession during an interval lasting for much less than one Saturn rotation period. Moreover, a secondary magnetic island is reported for the first time at the dayside, collectively suggesting that the reconnection process is not steady and could be "drizzle-like." This study demonstrates the fundamental importance of internally driven magnetic reconnection in accelerating particles in Saturn's dayside magnetosphere, and likewise in the rapidly rotating Jovian magnetosphere and beyond.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Reconnection Acceleration in Saturn's Dayside Magnetodisk: A Multicase Study with Cassini |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.3847/2041-8213/aaedab |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aaedab |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Original content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI. |
| Keywords: | acceleration of particles , magnetic reconnection, planetary systems |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Space and Climate Physics |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10063490 |
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