An empirical polytrope law for solar wind thermal electrons between 0.45 and 4.76 AU: Voyager 2 and Mariner 10

Empirical evidence is presented that solar wind thermal electrons obey a polytrope law with polytrope index gamma = 1.175 plus or minus 0.03. The Voyager 2 and Mariner 10 data used as evidence are compared and discussed. The theoretical predictions that solar wind thermal electrons in the asymptotic solar wind should obey a polytrope law with polytrope index gamma = 1.16 plus or minus. The widespread impressions in the literature that solar wind electrons behave more like an isothermal than adiabatic gas, and the arguments that Coulomb collisions are the dominant stochastic process shaping observed electron distribution functions in the solar wind are reexamined, reviewed and evaluated. The assignment of the interplanetary potential as equal to approximately seven times the temperature of the thermal electrons is discussed

High precision electric gate for time-of-flight ion mass spectrometers

A time-of-flight mass spectrometer having a chamber with electrodes to generate an electric field in the chamber and electric gating for allowing ions with a predetermined mass and velocity into the electric field. The design uses a row of very thin parallel aligned wires that are pulsed in sequence so the ion can pass through the gap of two parallel plates, which are biased to prevent passage of the ion. This design by itself can provide a high mass resolution capability and a very precise start pulse for an ion mass spectrometer. Furthermore, the ion will only pass through the chamber if it is within a wire diameter of the first wire when it is pulsed and has the right speed so it is near all other wires when they are pulsed

Survey of low energy plasma electrons in Saturn's magnetosphere: Voyagers 1 and 2

The low energy plasma electron environment within Saturn's magnetosphere was surveyed by the Plasma Science Experiment (PLS) during the Voyager encounters with Saturn. Over the full energy range of the PLS instrument (10 eV to 6 keV) the electron distribution functions are clearly non-Maxwellian in character; they are composed of a cold (thermal) component with Maxwellian shape and a hot (suprathermal) non-Maxwellian component. A large scale positive radial gradient in electron temperature is observed, increasing from less than 1 eV in the inner magnetosphere to as high as 800 eV in the outer magnetosphere. Three fundamentally different plasma regimes were identified from the measurements: (1) the hot outer magnetosphere, (2) the extended plasma sheet, and (3) the inner plasma torus

Magnetic properties of Jupiter's tail at distances from 80-7500 Jovian radii

A detailed study of the magnetic field data from both Voyagers 1 and 2 has revealed several interesting properties of the near and distant Jovian magnetotail. During the first encounter, as Voyager 1 passed between 80 and 140 R sub J from Jupiter in the near tail, the spacecraft was almost entirely in the northerm lobe magnetic field. The frequency spectrum of magnetic fluctuation in this region cannot be characterized by a power law and does not appear to be turbulent. The distant tail spectra from Voyager 2 are compared with similar spectra obtained from Voyager 1 when it was in near radial alignment with Voyager 2. Although the gross properties of the tail and solar wind fields in most respects differ considerably, the shape and power levels of the spectra of the magnetic fluctuations are very similar, especially between .0001 and .001 Hz. At lower frequencies (.00001 to .0001 Hz) the spectra of magnetic helicity do differ

Survey of the plasma electron environment of Jupiter: A view from Voyager

The plasma environment within Jupiter's bow shock is considered in terms of the in situ, calibrated electron plasma measurements made between 10 eV and 5.95 keV by the Voyager plasma science experiment (PLS). Measurements were analyzed and corrected for spacecraft potential variations; the data were reduced to nearly model independent macroscopic parameters of the local electron density and temperature. It is tentatively concluded that the radial temperature profile within the plasma sheet is caused by the intermixing of two different electron populations that probably have different temporal histories and spatial paths to their local observation. The cool plasma source of the plasma sheet and spikes is probably the Io plasma torus and arrives in the plasma sheet as a result of flux tube interchange motions or other generalized transport which can be accomplished without diverting the plasma from the centrifugal equator. The hot suprathermal populations in the plasma sheet have most recently come from the sparse, hot mid-latitude "bath" of electrons which were directly observed juxtaposed to the plasma sheet

Plasma electron analysis: Voyager plasma science experiment

The Plasma Science Experiment (PLS) on the Voyager spacecraft provide data on the plasma ions and electrons in the interplanetary medium and the magnetospheres of the giant planets Jupiter and Saturn. A description of the analysis used to obtain electron parameters (density, temperature, etc.) from the plasma science experiment PLS electron measurements which cover the energy range from 10 eV to 5950 eV is presented. The electron sensor (D cup) and its transmission characteristics are described. A derivation of the fundamental analytical expression of the reduced distribution function F(e) is given. The electron distribution function F(e), used in the moment integrations, can be derived from F(e). Positive ions produce a correction current (ion feedthrough) to the measured electron current, which can be important to the measurements of the suprathermal electron component. In the case of Saturn, this correction current, which can either add to or subtract from the measured electron current, is less than 20% of the measured signal at all times. Comments about the corrections introduced by spacecraft charging to the Saturn encounter data, which can be important in regions of high density and shadow when the spacecraft can become negatively charged are introduced

Synergism of Saturn, Enceladus and Titan and Formation of HCNO Prebiotic Molecules

Saturn as a system has two very exotic moons Titan and Enceladus. Titan, taking in energy from Saturn's magnetosphere, solar UV irradiation, and cosmic rays, can make HCN based molecules as discussed in earlier paper by Raulin and Owen. Space radiation effects at both moons, and as coupled by the Saturn magnetosphere, could cause an unexpected series of events potentially leading to prebiotic chemical evolution at Titan with HCNO from magnetospheric oxygen as the new ingredient. The "Old Faithful" model suggests that Enceladus, highly irradiated by Saturn magnetospheric electrons and thus having a source of chemical energy from radiolytic gas production, has episodic ejections of water vapor, carbon dioxide, and various hydrocarbons into Saturn's magnetosphere. The hydrocarbons do not survive transport through the plasma environment, but oxygen ions from Enceladus water molecules become the dominant ion species in the outer magnetosphere. At Titan, Cassini discovered that 1) keV oxygen ions, evidently from Enceladus, are bombarding Titan's upper atmosphere and 2) heavy positive and negative ions exist in significant abundances within Titan's upper atmosphere. Initial models of heavy ion formation in Titan's upper atmosphere invoked polymerization of aromatics such as benzenes and their radicals to make polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) , while a more recent model by Sittler et al., has raised the possibility of carbon chains forming from the polymerization of acetylene and its radicals to make fullerenes. Laboratory measurements indicate that fullerenes, which are hollow carbon shells, can trap keV oxygen ions. Clustering of the fullerenes with aerosol mixtures from PAHs and the dominant nitrogen molecules could form larger aerosols enriched in trapped oxygen. Aerosol precipitation could then convey these chemically complex structures deeper into the atmosphere and to the moon surface. Ionizing solar UV, magnetospheric electron, and galactic cosmic ray irradiation would provide further energy for processing into more complex organic forms. Further ionizing irradiation from cosmic rays deep in the atmosphere "tho lin" molecules are produced with all the molecular components present from which prebiotic organic molecules can form. This synergy of Saturn system, exogenic irradiation, and molecular processes provides a potential pathway for accumulation of prebiotic chemistry on the surface of Titan. Since fullerenes are also thought to exist in interstellar space, similar processes may also occur there to seed molecular clouds with prebiotic chemical species. We will also discuss possible future laboratory experiments that could be done to investigate fullerene formation at Titan and the trapping of oxygen in fullerenes

Synergism of Saturn, Enceladus and Titan and Formation of HCNO Exobiological Molecules

Saturn as a system has two very exotic moons Titan and Enceladus. Titan with energy input from Saturn's magnetosphere, solar UV irradiation, and cosmic rays can make HCN based molecules as discussed in earlier paper by [1]. Space radiation effects at both moons, and as coupled by the Saturn magnetosphere could cause an unexpected series of events leading to the evolution of biological models at Titan composed of HCNO with oxygen as the new ingredient. The "Old Faithful" model by [2] suggests that Enceladus, highly irradiated by Saturn magnetospheric electrons, has episodic ejections of water vapor driven by radiolytic oxidation gas products into Saturn's magnetosphere. At Titan Cassini discovered 1) that keV oxygen ions, evidently from Enceladus, are bombarding Titan's upper atmosphere [3] and 2) the discovery of heavy positive and negative ions within Titan's upper atmosphere [4]. Initial models of heavy ion formation in Titan's upper atmosphere invoked polymerization of aromatics such as Benzenes and their radicals to make PAHs [5], while a more recent model by [6] has raised the possibility of carbon chains forming from the polymerization of acetylene and its radicals to eventually make fullerenes. Laboratory measurements indicate that fullerenes, which are hollow carbon shells, can trap the keV oxygen and with the clustering of fullerenes and possible mixture with PAHs, some with nitrogen molecules, can make the larger aerosols with oxygen within them. Then with further ionizing irradiation from cosmic rays deep in the atmosphere "tholin" molecules are produced with all the molecular components present from which organic molecules can form. Among the molecular components are amino acids, the fundamental building blocks of life as we know it. This process maybe a common chemical pathway, both at the system level and at the molecular level, to form prebiotic and perhaps even biotic molecules. Such processes can be occurring throughout our universe, such as molecular clouds in the ISM

Charged particle environment of Titan during the T9 flyby

The ion measurements of the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer are presented which were acquired on 26 December 2005, during the T9 flyby at Titan. The plasma flow and magnetic field directions in the distant plasma environment of the moon were distinctly different from the other flybys. The near-Titan environment, dominated by ions of Titan origin, had a split signature, each with different ion composition; the first region was dominated by dense, slow, and cold ions in the 16-19 and 28-40 amu mass range, the second region contained only ions with mass 1 and 2, much less dense and less slow. Magnetospheric ions penetrate marginally into region 1, whereas the region-2 ion population is mixed. A detailed analysis has led us to conclude that the first event was due to the crossing of the mantle of Titan, whereas the second one very likely was a wake crossing. The split indicates the non-convexity of the ion-dominated volume around Titan. Both ion distributions are analysed in detail