HR: 17:45h
AN: P54A-07    [Abstracts]
TI: Charged Neutral Interactions Inside 3 Saturn Radii Using Cassini MIMI Data
AU: * Paranicas, C
EM: chris.paranicas@jhuapl.edu
AF: Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Krupp, N
EM: Krupp@linmpi.mpg.de
AF: Max-Planck-Institut fuer Sonnensystemforschung, Max-Planck-Str. 2, Katlenburg-Lindau, 37191 Germany
AU: Armstrong, T P
EM: Armstrong@ftecs.com
AF: Fundamental Technologies, LLC, 2411 Ponderosa Dr., Lawrence, KS 66046 United States
AU: Mitchell, D G
EM: Donald.G.Mitchell@jhuapl.edu
AF: Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Krimigis, S M
EM: Krimigis@jhuapl.edu
AF: Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Mauk, B H
EM: Mauk@jhuapl.edu
AF: Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Roelof, E C
EM: Roelof@jhuapl.edu
AF: Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Brandt, P C
EM: Pontus.Brandt@jhuapl.edu
AF: Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AU: Williams, D
EM: Donald.J.Williams@jhuapl.edu
AF: Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Rd., Laurel, MD 20723 United States
AB: The Cassini Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) has three separate sensors which, taken together, have the capacity to detect energetic charged particles and neutral atoms and molecules. During orbit insertion, Cassini reached a closest approach distance of about 1.3 Saturn radii, flying at low latitudes over the ring plane. Ion and electron data taken close to the planet reveal strong flux decreases at some radial distances associated with planetary rings. Charged particles at a wide range of energies are apparently lost to collisions with neutral material such as ring particulates. The sharp flux decrease provides us with an opportunity to constrain the total amount of neutral material as a function of planetary radius. Furthermore, the particularly clean region sampled over the rings will allow us to study several sources of contamination to the MIMI measurements. The differential decreases by species and energy allow us to quantify the contributions of trapped and non-trapped particles to the penetrating background on the MIMI instrument.
DE: 5737 Magnetospheres (2756)
DE: 5759 Rings and dust
DE: 6275 Saturn
DE: 6280 Saturnian satellites
DE: 2730 Magnetosphere--inner
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting