Electron density inside Enceladus plume inferred from plasma oscillations excited by dust impacts

Ye, Shengyi; Gurnett, D. A.; Kurth, W. S.; Averkamp, T. F.; Sakai, Shotaro; Wahlund, Jan‐Erik

doi:10.1002/2014ja019861

Cited by 25 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…changes of WBR. The CDA data showed consistent peak densities around 0.04 m -3 (threshold ~ 0.8 micron) during the Ring Grazing orbits, less than one order of magnitude higher than the RPWS dust density, which is within the 320 uncertainty limit of the method (Ye et al, 2014). The density peak measured by RPWS (FWHM 600 to 1000 km) is wider than that by CDA (averaged profile shows a FWHM of 475 km).…”

Section: Cassinimentioning

confidence: 63%

Dust observations with antenna measurements and its prospects for observations with Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter

Mann¹,

Nouzak²,

Vaverka³

et al. 2019

Preprint

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The electric and magnetic field instrument suite FIELDS on board the NASA Parker Solar Probe and the radio and 15 plasma waves instrument RPWS on the ESA Solar Orbiter mission that explore the inner heliosphere are sensitive to signals generated by dust impacts. Dust impacts were observed using electric field antennas on spacecraft since the 1980s and the method was recently used with a number of space missions to derive dust fluxes. Here, we consider the details of dust impacts, subsequent development of the impact generated plasma and how it produces the measured signals. We describe empirical approaches to characterise the signals and compare to a qualitative discussion of laboratory simulations to predict signal shapes 20 for spacecraft measurements in the inner solar system. While the amount of charge production from a dust impact will be higher near the sun than observed in the interplanetary medium before, the amplitude of pulses will be lower because of the different recovery behaviour that varies with the plasma environment. The photocurrent, that is expected to be higher near the Sun, is found to have moderate influence on the spacecraft potential. 25

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Section: Cassinimentioning

confidence: 63%

Dust observations with antenna measurements and its prospects for observations with Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter

Mann¹,

Nouzak²,

Vaverka³

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…7, which shows the electric power spectrum measured by the Cassini RPWS HFR receiver simultaneously in dipole (top) and monopole (bottom) mode in Saturn's E-ring at the first close approach of Enceladus (Meyer-Vernet et al, 2014). During the subsequent mission, the Wideband Receiver (WBR) of the RPWS instrument was switched from monopole mode to dipole mode at a ring plane crossing, so that the responses of these two antenna modes to dust impacts were compared, assuming the dust density and size distribution did not change across the ring plane (Ye et al, 2016a). Figure 8 shows an RPWS wave power spectrogram, which covers a 1 h period around a ring plane crossing on DOY 001, 2016.…”

Section: Cassinimentioning

confidence: 99%

Dust observations with antenna measurements and its prospects for observations with Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. The electric and magnetic field instrument suite FIELDS on board the NASA Parker Solar Probe and the radio and plasma waves instrument RPW on the ESA Solar Orbiter mission that explore the inner heliosphere are sensitive to signals generated by dust impacts. Dust impacts have been observed using electric field antennas on spacecraft since the 1980s and the method was recently used with a number of space missions to derive dust fluxes. Here, we consider the details of dust impacts, subsequent development of the impact generated plasma and how it produces the measured signals. We describe empirical approaches to characterise the signals and compare these in a qualitative discussion of laboratory simulations to predict signal shapes for spacecraft measurements in the inner solar system. While the amount of charge production from a dust impact will be higher near the Sun than observed in the interplanetary medium before, the amplitude of pulses is determined by the recovery behaviour that is different near the Sun since it varies with the plasma environment.

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“…One therefore expects a short voltage precursor of time scale smaller than a few μs produced by the motion of the electrons. In planetary environments of temperature smaller than that of the cloud's electrons, a large part of them move faster than the ambient electrons, which may produce a beam‐plasma instability and associated wave emission near the ambient plasma frequency, as suggested by Meyer‐Vernet et al [] and observed in the cold Enceladus plume [ Ye et al , ].…”

Section: Risetime Of Pulses In Spacecraft Potential For Nanodust Impactsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Frequency range of dust detection in space with radio and plasma wave receivers: Theory and application to interplanetary nanodust impacts on Cassini

et al. 2017

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Wave instruments can detect dust in space via the charges released by impact ionization of fast dust grains. Each hypervelocity dust impact produces an electrostatic pulse whose short risetime is a major property determining the frequency range of detection. We propose a simplified analytical model to calculate this risetime and its variation with grains' mass and photoelectron or ambient plasma density, for pulses in spacecraft potential due to fast interplanetary nanodust impacts. We test these calculations by analyzing the high‐frequency receiver data of the radio and plasma wave instrument during the cruise phase of the Cassini mission between Earth and Jupiter. These data confirm the dependence of the risetime on grains' mass and speed and heliocentric distance predicted by our calculations. Furthermore, the data show that the nanodust properties follow closely the fluctuations of the solar wind velocity component perpendicular to the magnetic field, as predicted by dynamics. The calculations can be generalized to microdust detection on other spacecraft and might explain previous observations left uninterpreted. These calculations are also relevant for the design of wave receivers, by determining the optimal frequency range for dust detection on future missions.

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Electron density inside Enceladus plume inferred from plasma oscillations excited by dust impacts

Cited by 25 publications

References 46 publications

Dust observations with antenna measurements and its prospects for observations with Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter

Dust observations with antenna measurements and its prospects for observations with Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter

Dust observations with antenna measurements and its prospects for observations with Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter

Frequency range of dust detection in space with radio and plasma wave receivers: Theory and application to interplanetary nanodust impacts on Cassini

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