Paper detail

Sources of Pressure in Titan's Plasma Environment

In order to analyze varying plasma conditions upstream of Titan, we have combined a physical model of Saturn's plasmadisk with a geometrical model of the oscillating current sheet. During modeled oscillation phases where Titan is furthest from the current sheet, the main sources of plasma pressure in the near-Titan space are the magnetic pressure and, for disturbed conditions, the hot plasma pressure. When Titan is at the center of the sheet, the main source is the dynamic pressure associated with Saturn's cold, subcorotating plasma. Total pressure at Titan (dynamic plus thermal plus magnetic) typically increases by a factor of five as the current sheet center is approached. The predicted incident plasma flow direction deviates from the orbital plane of Titan by < 10 deg. These results suggest a correlation between the location of magnetic pressure maxima and the oscillation phase of the plasmasheet.