HR: 11:05h
AN: P12B-04 INVITED    [Abstracts]
TI: Fields and plasma in the wakes of the Saturnian inert moons: global hybrid simulation results
AU: * Roussos, E
EM: roussos@mps.mpg.de
AF: Max Planck Institut fuer Sonnensystemforschung, Max Planck Str. 2, 37191, Germany, Katlenburg-Lindau, 37191, Germany
AU: Mueller, J
EM: joa.mueller@tu-bs.de
AF: Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, TU Braunschweig, Hans-Sommer-Strasse 66, Braunschweig, 38106, Germany
AU: Simon, S
EM: sven.simon@tu-bs.de
AF: Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, TU Braunschweig, Hans-Sommer-Strasse 66, Braunschweig, 38106, Germany
AU: Boesswetter, A
EM: a.boesswetter@tu-bs.de
AF: Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, TU Braunschweig, Hans-Sommer-Strasse 66, Braunschweig, 38106, Germany
AU: Motschmann, U
EM: u.motschmann@tu-bs.de
AF: Institut fuer Theoretische Physik, TU Braunschweig, Hans-Sommer-Strasse 66, Braunschweig, 38106, Germany
AU: Krupp, N
EM: krupp@mps.mpg.de
AF: Max Planck Institut fuer Sonnensystemforschung, Max Planck Str. 2, 37191, Germany, Katlenburg-Lindau, 37191, Germany
AU: Fraenz, M
EM: fraenz@mps.mpg.de
AF: Max Planck Institut fuer Sonnensystemforschung, Max Planck Str. 2, 37191, Germany, Katlenburg-Lindau, 37191, Germany
AU: Woch, J
EM: woch@mps.mpg.de
AF: Max Planck Institut fuer Sonnensystemforschung, Max Planck Str. 2, 37191, Germany, Katlenburg-Lindau, 37191, Germany
AU: Khurana, K
EM: kkhurana@igpp.ucla.edu
AF: Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California at Los Angeles, 6863 Slichter Halll, Los Angeles, 90095-1567, United States
AU: Dougherty, M
EM: m.dougherty@ic.ac.uk
AF: Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, SW7 2BW, United Kingdom
AB: The dynamics of magnetized, plasma vacuums is a fundamental physical problem and the wakes of Saturn's inert moons represent an ideal physical laboratory where this topic can be thoroughly investigated. With Cassini having already performed several close icy moon flybys, significant contribution to our understanding of the physical processes involved could come from combined data-simulation studies. Here we present such a case study where Rhea's magnetospheric interaction is simulated using a three dimensional, hybrid plasma simulation code, where ions are treated as particles and electrons as a massless, charge-neutralizing fluid. Many of the expected features of the interaction are reproduced, such as the magnetic field compression in the wake, the rarefaction in the wake sides and the extended plasma depletion along the magnetic field direction. The simulation successfully reproduces the signature in the Cassini magnetometer data, acquired during the close flyby to Rhea on November 2005, but only partly the particle distributions observed. Both agreements and disagreements of a simulation with the data can tell us a lot about the determining factors of the interaction. As Rhea is one of the many mass absorbing moons of Saturn, such a case study should be relevant for most lunar- type interactions at Saturn.
DE: 2732 Magnetosphere interactions with satellites and rings
DE: 2753 Numerical modeling
DE: 6207 Comparative planetology
DE: 6275 Saturn
DE: 6280 Saturnian satellites
SC: Planetary Sciences [P]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting