A nightside source of Saturn's kilometric radiation: Evidence for an inner magnetosphere energy driver

Abstract

During Cassini's orbit insertion about Saturn, the spacecraft passed within 1.4 Rs of the planet passing from dayside into the nightside region. During this nightside passage, the onboard Radio and Plasma Wave (RPWS) instrument surprisingly detected Saturn kilometric radiation (SKR). Prior to this encounter, it was believed that SKR originated from a high-latitude dayside source, and radio beams from such a source would not be viewable in this nearplanet night-side location. Subsequent analysis presented here reveals that this SKR did indeed originate from the near-midnight region on field lines near L ∼ 10-15. Such a radio source suggests the presence of an active region in the night-side inner magnetosphere; this source possibly being near the outer edge of the icy-moon created plasma torus surrounding the planet. The implication is that some of the SKR is driven by an internal energy source that may also account for recent UV aurora observations. Copyright 2005 by the American Geophysical Union.