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Simulation of the Planetary Interior Differentiation Processes in the Laboratory
Published on: November 15, 2013
Does Enceladus govern magnetospheric dynamics at Saturn?
1Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics and Department of Earth and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1567, USA. mkivelson@igpp.ucla.edu
Abstract:
Instruments on the Cassini spacecraft reveal that a heat source within Saturn's moon Enceladus powers a great plume of water ice particles and dust grains, a geyser that jets outward from the south polar regions and most likely serves as the dominant source of Saturn's E ring. The interaction of flowing magnetospheric plasma with the plume modifies the particle and field environment of Enceladus. The structure of Saturn's magnetosphere, the extended region of space threaded by magnetic-field lines linked to the planet, is shaped by the ion source at Enceladus, and magnetospheric dynamics may be affected by the rate at which fresh ions are created.
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