Ion winds in Saturn's southern auroral/polar region

Tom S. Stallard; Steve Miller; Laurence M. Trafton; Thomas R. Geballe; Robert D. Joseph

doi:10.1016/j.icarus.2003.09.006

Ion winds in Saturn's southern auroral/polar region

Tom S. Stallard^*, Steve Miller, Laurence M. Trafton, Thomas R. Geballe, Robert D. Joseph

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

61 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We present profiles of the line-of-sight (l.o.s.) ionospheric wind velocities in the southern auroral/polar region of Saturn. Our velocities are derived from the measurement of Doppler shifting of the H3+ ν2Q(1,0−) line at 3.953 microns. The data for this study were obtained using the facility high-resolution spectrometer CSHELL on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, during the night of February 6, 2003 (UT). The l.o.s. velocity profiles finally derived are consistent with an extended region of the upper atmosphere sub-corotating with the planet: the ion velocities in the inertial reference are only 1/3 of those expected for full planetary corotation. We discuss the results in the light of recent proposals for the kronian magnetosphere, and suggest that, in this region, Saturn's ion winds may be under solar wind control.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	204-211
Number of pages	8
Journal	Icarus
Volume	157
Issue number	1
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2003.09.006
Publication status	Published - Jan 2004
Externally published	Yes

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10.1016/j.icarus.2003.09.006

Cite this

@article{e06381c0e7db4a9fb3e3b3b3071b8b61,

title = "Ion winds in Saturn's southern auroral/polar region",

abstract = "We present profiles of the line-of-sight (l.o.s.) ionospheric wind velocities in the southern auroral/polar region of Saturn. Our velocities are derived from the measurement of Doppler shifting of the H3+ ν2Q(1,0−) line at 3.953 microns. The data for this study were obtained using the facility high-resolution spectrometer CSHELL on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, during the night of February 6, 2003 (UT). The l.o.s. velocity profiles finally derived are consistent with an extended region of the upper atmosphere sub-corotating with the planet: the ion velocities in the inertial reference are only 1/3 of those expected for full planetary corotation. We discuss the results in the light of recent proposals for the kronian magnetosphere, and suggest that, in this region, Saturn's ion winds may be under solar wind control.",

author = "Stallard, {Tom S.} and Steve Miller and Trafton, {Laurence M.} and Geballe, {Thomas R.} and Joseph, {Robert D.}",

year = "2004",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1016/j.icarus.2003.09.006",

language = "English",

volume = "157",

pages = "204--211",

journal = "Icarus",

issn = "0019-1035",

publisher = "Academic Press Inc.",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Ion winds in Saturn's southern auroral/polar region

AU - Stallard, Tom S.

AU - Miller, Steve

AU - Trafton, Laurence M.

AU - Geballe, Thomas R.

AU - Joseph, Robert D.

PY - 2004/1

Y1 - 2004/1

N2 - We present profiles of the line-of-sight (l.o.s.) ionospheric wind velocities in the southern auroral/polar region of Saturn. Our velocities are derived from the measurement of Doppler shifting of the H3+ ν2Q(1,0−) line at 3.953 microns. The data for this study were obtained using the facility high-resolution spectrometer CSHELL on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, during the night of February 6, 2003 (UT). The l.o.s. velocity profiles finally derived are consistent with an extended region of the upper atmosphere sub-corotating with the planet: the ion velocities in the inertial reference are only 1/3 of those expected for full planetary corotation. We discuss the results in the light of recent proposals for the kronian magnetosphere, and suggest that, in this region, Saturn's ion winds may be under solar wind control.

AB - We present profiles of the line-of-sight (l.o.s.) ionospheric wind velocities in the southern auroral/polar region of Saturn. Our velocities are derived from the measurement of Doppler shifting of the H3+ ν2Q(1,0−) line at 3.953 microns. The data for this study were obtained using the facility high-resolution spectrometer CSHELL on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, during the night of February 6, 2003 (UT). The l.o.s. velocity profiles finally derived are consistent with an extended region of the upper atmosphere sub-corotating with the planet: the ion velocities in the inertial reference are only 1/3 of those expected for full planetary corotation. We discuss the results in the light of recent proposals for the kronian magnetosphere, and suggest that, in this region, Saturn's ion winds may be under solar wind control.

U2 - 10.1016/j.icarus.2003.09.006

DO - 10.1016/j.icarus.2003.09.006

M3 - Article

SN - 0019-1035

VL - 157

SP - 204

EP - 211

JO - Icarus

JF - Icarus

IS - 1

ER -