Tokar, RL;
Johnson, RE;
Thomsen, MF;
Sittler, EC;
Coates, AJ;
Wilson, RJ;
Crary, FJ;
... Jones, GH; + view all
(2012)
Detection of exospheric O2+ at Saturn's moon Dione.
Geophysical Research Letters
, 39
(3)
, Article L03105. 10.1029/2011GL050452.
![[thumbnail of 2011GL050452.pdf]](https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png) Preview |
PDF
2011GL050452.pdf Available under License : See the attached licence file. Download (556kB) |
Abstract
During a close pass of Cassini through the plasma wake of Saturn's moon Dione on April 7, 2010 the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) detected molecular oxygen ions (O2+) on pick up ring velocity distributions, thus providing the first in situ detection of a neutral exosphere surrounding the icy moon. The density of O2+ determined from the CAPS data ranges from 0.01 to 0.09 /cm3 and is used to estimate the exosphere O2 radial column density, obtaining the range 0.9 to 7 × 1011/cm2 . CAPS was unable to directly detect pick up H2O+ from the exosphere but the observations can be used to set an upper limit to their density of ∼10 times the O2+ density.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Detection of exospheric O2+ at Saturn's moon Dione |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1029/2011GL050452 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/2011GL050452 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright 2012 by the American Geophysical Union |
| Keywords: | Dione, Exosphere |
| 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/1343201 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
