Ion winds in Saturn's southern auroral/polar region
Ion winds in Saturn's southern auroral/polar region
复制标题
土星南极光/极地区域的离子风
DOI:
10.1016/j.icarus.2003.09.006
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发表时间:
2004
期刊:
影响因子:
3.2
通讯作者:
R. Joseph
中科院分区:
文献类型:
--
作者:
T. Stallard;S. Miller;L. Trafton;T. Geballe;R. Joseph
We present profiles of the line-of-sight (l.o.s.) ionospheric wind velocities in the southern auroral/polar region of Saturn. Our velocities are derived from the measurement of Doppler shifting of the H3+ν2Q(1,0−) line at 3.953 microns. The data for this study were obtained using the facility high-resolution spectrometer CSHELL on the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility (IRTF) on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, during the night of February 6, 2003 (UT). The l.o.s. velocity profiles finally derived are consistent with an extended region of the upper atmosphere sub-corotating with the planet: the ion velocities in the inertial reference are only 1/3 of those expected for full planetary corotation. We discuss the results in the light of recent proposals for the kronian magnetosphere, and suggest that, in this region, Saturn's ion winds may be under solar wind control.