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Fine jet structure of electrically charged grains in Enceladus' plume

  • By traversing the plume erupting from high southern latitudes on Saturn's moon Enceladus, Cassini orbiter instruments can directly sample the material therein. Cassini Plasma Spectrometer, CAPS, data show that a major plume component comprises previously-undetected particles of nanometer scales and larger that bridge the mass gap between previously observed gaseous species and solid icy grains. This population is electrically charged both negative and positive, indicating that subsurface triboelectric charging, i.e., contact electrification of condensed plume material may occur through mutual collisions within vents. The electric field of Saturn's magnetosphere controls the jets' morphologies, separating particles according to mass and charge. Fine-scale structuring of these particles' spatial distribution correlates with discrete plume jets' sources, and reveals locations of other possible active regions. The observed plume population likely forms a major component of high velocity nanometer particle streams detected outside Saturn'sBy traversing the plume erupting from high southern latitudes on Saturn's moon Enceladus, Cassini orbiter instruments can directly sample the material therein. Cassini Plasma Spectrometer, CAPS, data show that a major plume component comprises previously-undetected particles of nanometer scales and larger that bridge the mass gap between previously observed gaseous species and solid icy grains. This population is electrically charged both negative and positive, indicating that subsurface triboelectric charging, i.e., contact electrification of condensed plume material may occur through mutual collisions within vents. The electric field of Saturn's magnetosphere controls the jets' morphologies, separating particles according to mass and charge. Fine-scale structuring of these particles' spatial distribution correlates with discrete plume jets' sources, and reveals locations of other possible active regions. The observed plume population likely forms a major component of high velocity nanometer particle streams detected outside Saturn's magnetosphere.show moreshow less

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Author details:Geraint H. Jones, Christopher S. Arridge, Andrew J. Coates, Gethyn R. Lewis, Sheila Kanani, Anne Wellbrock, David T. Young, Frank J. Crary, Robert L. Tokar, R. J. Wilson, Thomas W. Hill, Robert E. Johnson, Donald G. Mitchell, Jürgen Schmidt, Sascha KempfORCiD, Uwe Beckmann, Christopher T. Russell, Y. D. Jia, Michele K. Dougherty, J. Hunter Waite, Brian A. Magee
URL:http://www.agu.org/journals/gl/
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2009gl038284
ISSN:0094-8276
Publication type:Article
Language:English
Year of first publication:2009
Publication year:2009
Release date:2017/03/25
Source:Geophysical research letters. - ISSN 0094-8276. - 36 (2009), L16204
Peer review:Referiert
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