The rotation of the plasmapause-like boundary at high latitudes in Saturn's magnetosphere and its relation to the eccentric rotation of the northern and southern auroral ovals

Abstract

Here we present a study of the rotation of the plasmapause-like density boundary discovered by the Cassini spacecraft at high latitudes in the Saturnian magnetosphere, and compare the results with previously published studies of high-latitude magnetic field perturbations and the eccentric rotation of the auroral ovals. Near the planet the density boundary is located at dipole L values ranging from about 8 to 15, and separates a region of very low densities at high latitudes from a region of higher densities at lower latitudes. We show that the density boundary rotates at different rates in the northern and southern hemispheres, and that the periods are the same as the modulation periods of Saturn kilometric radiation in those hemispheres. We also show that the phase of rotation in a given hemisphere is closely correlated with the phase of the high-latitude magnetic field perturbations observed by Cassini in that hemisphere, and also with the phase of the eccentric rotation of the auroral oval observed by the Hubble Space Telescope. © 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.