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Science 10 April 1981:
Vol. 212. no. 4491, pp. 231 - 234
DOI: 10.1126/science.212.4491.231
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Articles

Energetic Charged Particles in Saturn's Magnetosphere: Voyager 1 Results

R. E. VOGT 1, D. L. CHENETTE 1, A. C. CUMMINGS 1, T. L. GARRARD 1, E. C. STONE 1, A. W. SCHARDT 2, J. H. TRAINOR 2, N. LAL 2, and F. B. McDONALD 2

1 California Institute of Technology, Pasadena 91125
2 NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland 20771

Voyager 1 provided the first look at Saturn's magnetotail and magnetosphere during relatively quiet interplanetary conditions. This report discusses the energetic particle populations of the outer magnetosphere of Saturn and absorption features associated with Titan and Rhea, and compares these observations with Pioneer 11 data of a year earlier. The trapped proton fluxes had soft spectra, represented by power laws E–ggr in kinetic energy E, with ggr sim 7 in the outer magnetosphere and ggr sim 9 in the magnetotail. Structure associated with the magnetotial was observed as close as 10 Saturn radii (Rs) on the outbound trajectory. The proton and electron fluxes in the outer magnetosphere and in the magnetotail were variable and appeared to respond to changes in interplanetary conditions. Protons with energies ge 2 million electron volts had free access to the magnetosphere from interplanetary space and were not stably trapped outside sim 7.5 Rs.

Submitted on February 9, 1981


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Magnetic Field Studies by Voyager 2: Preliminary Results at Saturn.
N. F. Ness, N. F. NESS, M. H. ACUNA, K. W. BEHANNON, L. F. BURLAGA, J. E. P. CONNERNEY, R. P. LEPPING, and F. M. NEUBAUER (1982)
Science 215, 558-563
   Abstract »    PDF »
Plasma Observations Near Saturn: Initial Results from Voyager 2.
H. S. BRIDGE, F. BAGENAL, J. W. BELCHER, A. J. LAZARUS, R. L. McNUTT, J. D. SULLIVAN, P. R. GAZIS, R. E. HARTLE, K. W. OGILVIE, J. D. SCUDDER, et al. (1982)
Science 215, 563-570
   Abstract »    PDF »
Energetic Charged Particles in Saturn's Magnetosphere: Voyager 2 Results.
R. E. VOGT, D. L. CHENETTE, A. C. CUMMINGS, T. L. GARRARD, E. C. STONE, A. W. SCHARDT, J. H. TRAINOR, N. LAL, and F. B. McDONALD (1982)
Science 215, 577-582
   Abstract »    PDF »


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