Burch, JL; Goldstein, J; Mokashi, P; Lewis, WS; Paty, C; Young, DT; Coates, AJ; ... Andre, N; + view all Burch, JL; Goldstein, J; Mokashi, P; Lewis, WS; Paty, C; Young, DT; Coates, AJ; Dougherty, MK; Andre, N; - view fewer (2008) On the cause of Saturn's plasma periodicity. Geophysical Research Letters , 35 (14) , Article L14105. 10.1029/2008GL034951.

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Abstract

Periodic plasma enhancements are examined for all Cassini orbits from December 29, 2005 through September 7, 2006. The events, which have UT durations of 3-4 hours, are centered near SLS3 longitude 10 degrees at radial distances near 15 R-S and at larger W longitudes at larger distances, reaching 180 degrees W by 49 R-S. Magnetic-field data within the events and outside 30 to 35 R-S show signatures of neutral-sheet crossings and magnetic reconnection (i.e., plasmoids). We conclude that plasmoids move outward from 30-35 R-S along a spiral path that rotates with the planet. The duration of these events is similar to that of SKR events, and they are ordered in the SKR-based SLS3 longitude system. A conceptual model, in which the plasmoids are triggered in the pre-midnight quadrant following (with a predictable delay) the appearance of SKR at the magnetopause and then propagate outward in a rotating spiral pattern, can explain the connection among periodicities observed in Saturn's charged particles, magnetic fields, and kilometric radiation.

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