Dust capture by the Saturnian magnetosphere

Author

Mitchell, Colin J. ; Colwell, Joshua E. ; Horányi, Mihály

Author_Institution

Lab. for Atmos. & Space Phys., Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

Volume

32

Issue

2

fYear

2004

fDate

4/1/2004 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

598

Lastpage

600

Abstract

We examine the capture of interplanetary dust particles by Saturn using a simple two-dimensional code. The incoming grain´s energy may be lost to the magnetosphere due to the grain´s finite charging time as it passes through the magnetospheric plasma. We observe a preference for retrograde captures, with an approximately 2 : 1 ratio of retrograde to prograde captures. The computer simulations show that this asymmetry is due to the larger range of values of the Jacobi constant for retrograde orbits.

Keywords

Saturn; astrophysical plasma; cosmic dust; dusty plasmas; interplanetary matter; planetary atmospheres; Jacobi constant; Saturnian magnetosphere; computer simulations; dust capture; finite charging time; grain finite charging time; incoming grain energy; interplanetary dust particles capture; magnetospheric plasma; prograde captures; retrograde captures; retrograde orbits; two-dimensional code; Equations; Jacobian matrices; Jupiter; Magnetosphere; Orbits; Planets; Plasma density; Plasma simulation; Plasma temperature; Saturn; Magnetosphere; planets;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TPS.2004.826100

Filename

1308521