An Estimate of the Dust Pickup Currents at Enceladus

The electrodynamic environment at Enceladus is often assumed to be driven exclusively by ions produced from the moon's south polar plume. In this presentation, we demonstrate that acceleration of moon-originating submicron dust by the reduced co-rotating E-field is capable of creating a substantial current perpendicular to the magnetic field. This pickup current may be comparable to the ion pickup current, and may be large enough to deflect the local magnetic field. We will analyze observations from the Langmuir Probe that is a component of Cassini's Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) package, along with associated plasma waves that reveal electron concentrations. We will especially examine the observations from the 12 March 2008 spacecraft passage by the body, where the spacecraft was moving primarily southward taking it along-side the jet/plume emitted from the south pole of the moon. The region of dust pickup is found to originate about 3-5 Enceladus radii northward of the moon, and extends to at least 10 radii southward of the moon. We attempt to quantify the dust pickup current and describe the effect the current might have on the overall magnetoplasma and E-field environment in the vicinity of the body

Enceladus and Titan: Emerging Worlds of the Solar System (ESA Voyage 2050 White Paper)

Some of the major discoveries of the recent Cassini-Huygens mission have put Titan and Enceladus firmly on the Solar System map. The mission has revolutionised our view of Solar System satellites, arguably matching their scientific importance with that of their planet. While Cassini-Huygens has made big surprises in revealing Titan's organically rich environment and Enceladus' cryovolcanism, the mission's success naturally leads us to further probe these findings. We advocate the acknowledgement of Titan and Enceladus science as highly relevant to ESA's long-term roadmap, as logical follow-on to Cassini-Huygens. In this white paper, we will outline important science questions regarding these satellites and identify the pertinent science themes we recommend ESA cover during the Voyage 2050 planning cycle. Addressing these science themes would make major advancements to the present knowledge we have about the Solar System, its formation, evolution and likelihood that other habitable environments exist outside the Earth's biosphere

Estimating the optical depth of Saturn's main rings using the Cassini Langmuir Probe

A Langmuir Probe (LP) measures currents from incident charged particles as a function of the applied bias voltage. While onboard a spacecraft the particles are either originated from the surrounding plasma, or emitted (e.g. through photoemission) from the spacecraft itself. The obtained current-voltage curve reflects the properties of the plasma in which the probe is immersed into, but also any photoemission due to illumination of the probe surface: As photoemission releases photoelectrons into space surrounding the probe, these can be recollected and measured as an additional plasma population. This complicates the estimation of the properties of the ambient plasma around the spacecraft. The photoemission current is sensitive to the extreme ultraviolet (UV) part of the spectrum, and it varies with the illumination from the Sun and the properties of the LP surface material, and any variation in the photoelectrons irradiance can be measured as a change in the current voltage curve. Cassini was eclipsed multiple times by Saturn and the main rings over its 14 yr mission. During each eclipse the LP recorded dramatic changes in the current-voltage curve, which were especially variable when Cassini was in shadow behind the main rings. We interpret these variations as the effect of spatial variations in the optical depth of the rings and hence use the observations to estimate the optical depth of Saturn's main rings. Our estimates are comparable with UV optical depth measurements from Cassini's remote sensing instruments

Langmuir Probe observations during eclipses of Cassini with Saturn and the Main Rings:ring optical depths and photoelectrons

The Langmuir Probe (LP) onboard Cassini was one of the three experiments that could measure the cold inner magnetospheric plasma, along with the Radio and Plasma Waves Science (RPWS) and the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer (CAPS). While the century-old LP theory looks quite straight-forward, in reality things are much more complicated. The operation of the LP is quite simple: by applying positive bias voltages, the probe attracts the electrons and repels the ions of the surrounding plasma. From the resulting current-voltage curve characteristics of the ambient electrons can be estimated, i.e. density and temperature. When negative bias voltages are applied to the probe the characteristics of the ambient ions can be estimated, i.e. density, temperature, and mass. Though the LP operation and interpretation are quite simple and straightforward, there are assumptions made and therefore the theoretical models may not always reflect the actual plasma conditions in Saturn’s magnetosphere. For this study we are focused on the effect of the photoelectrons, i.e. electrons generated by the incident sunlight on Cassini’s surfaces, that are difficult to calibrate for on the ground and then observe and characterise in the LP data. We present algorithms for identifying when Cassini is in the shadow of Saturn and its rings, and when the LP is in the shadow of Saturn, its rings or Cassini itself. The LP data inside and outside the eclipses are compared using the algorithms developed. In this presentation we will first discuss the impact of the photoelectron generation from the spacecraft surfaces to the LP current-voltage curves, and understand the variations of the measured plasma density connected with the photoelectrons. Then, using that knowledge, we attempt to define the optical depth of the rings in the wavelengths the LP operates in

Estimating the optical depth of Saturn's main rings using the Cassini Langmuir Probe

A Langmuir probe (LP) measures currents from incident charged particles as a function of the applied bias voltage. While onboard a spacecraft the particles are either originated from the surrounding plasma, or emitted (for example, through photoemission) from the spacecraft itself. The obtained current-voltage curve reflects the properties of the plasma in which the probe is immersed into, but also any photoemission due to illumination of the probe surface: as photoemission releases photoelectrons into space surrounding the probe, these can be recollected and measured as an additional plasma population. This complicates the estimation of the properties of the ambient plasma around the spacecraft. The photoemission current is sensitive to the EUV part of the spectrum, and it varies with the illumination from the Sun and the properties of the LP surface material, and any variation in the photoelectrons irradiance can be measured as a change in the current voltage curve. Cassini was eclipsed multiple times by Saturn and the main rings over its 14-year mission. During each eclipse the LP recorded dramatic changes in the current-voltage curve, which were especially variable when Cassini was in shadow behind the main rings. We interpret these variations as the effect of spatial variations in the optical depth of the rings and hence use the observations to estimate the optical depth of Saturn's main rings. Our estimates are comparable with UV optical depth measurements from Cassini's remote sensing instruments

Empirical Photochemical Modeling of Saturn's Ionization Balance Including Grain Charging

We present a semianalytical photochemical model of Saturn's near-equatorial ionosphere and adapt it to two regions (similar to 2200 and similar to 1700 km above the 1 bar level) probed during the inbound portion of Cassini's orbit 292 (2017 September 9). The model uses as input the measured concentrations of molecular hydrogen, hydrogen ion species, and free electrons, as well as the measured electron temperature. The output includes upper limits, or constraints, on the mixing ratios of two families of molecules, on ion concentrations, and on the attachment rates of electrons and ions onto dust grains. The model suggests mixing ratios of the two molecular families that, particularly near similar to 1700 km, differ notably from what independent measurements by the Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer suggest. Possibly connected to this, the model suggests an electron-depleted plasma with a level of electron depletion of around 50%. This is in qualitative agreement with interpretations of Radio Plasma Wave Science/Langmuir Probe measurements, but an additional conundrum arises in the fact that a coherent photochemical equilibrium scenario then relies on a dust component with typical grain radii smaller than 3 angstrom

Electron temperature(s) in Titan's ionosphere: re-analysis of the Cassini RPWS/LP data

International audienceThe Cassini Langmuir Probe (LP) data, part of the Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) investigation, in Titan's ionosphere are re-analyzed with the main goal to finely measure the electron temperature on all the dataset. The LP sweeps in this region are particularly difficult to fit and interpret. We have found that several maxwellian electron components were needed to correctly fit the data. It seems that at least two electron populations of different temperatures are present. Statistical studies show that the main component gives an electron temperature slowly varying with Solar Zenith Angle. However, a second electron population often appears at lower altitudes and has a temperature more dependent on solar irradiation