Nordheim, TA;
Wellbrock, A;
Jones, GH;
Desai, RT;
Coates, AJ;
Teolis, BD;
Jasinski, JM;
(2020)
Detection of negative pickup ions at Saturn's moon Dione.
Geophysical Research Letters
, 47
(7)
, Article e2020GL087543. 10.1029/2020gl087543.
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Abstract
We investigate a possible negative ion feature observed by the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS) during a flyby of Saturn's moon Dione that occurred on April 7, 2010. By examining possible particle trajectories, we find that the observed particles are consistent with negative pick‐up ions originating near the moon's surface. We find that the mass of the negative pick‐up ions is in the range of 15 – 25 u and tentatively identify this species as O‐, likely resulting from ionization and subsequent pick‐up from Dione's O2‐CO2 exosphere. Our estimates show that the negative ion density is ~3 x 10‐3 cm‐3. This is comparable to, but slightly smaller than, that previously reported for the density of O2+ pick‐up ions for the same flyby, indicating that negative pick‐up ions may represent a major loss channel for Dione's exosphere.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Detection of negative pickup ions at Saturn's moon Dione |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1029/2020gl087543 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2020gl087543 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | This version is the version of record. For information on re-use, please refer to the publisher’s terms and conditions. |
| Keywords: | exosphere, Dione, icy satellites, pickup ions, magnetosphere, moon‐magnetosphere interactions |
| 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-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10093500 |
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