Field‐aligned photoelectron energy peaks at high altitude and on the nightside of titan
File(s)Cao_etal_accepted.pdf (14.64 MB)
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The ionization of N urn:x-wiley:jgre:media:jgre21272:jgre21272-math-0001 by strong solar He II 30.4‐nm photons produces distinctive spectral peaks near 24.1 eV in Titan's upper atmosphere, which have been observed by the Electron Spectrometer (ELS) as part of the Cassini Plasma Spectrometer. The ELS observations reveal that, in addition to the dayside, photoelectron peaks were also detected on the deep nightside where photoionization is switched off, as well as at sufficiently high altitudes where the ambient neutral density is low. These photoelectron peaks are unlikely to be produced locally but instead must be contributed by transport along the magnetic field lines from their dayside source regions. In this study, we present a statistical survey of all photoelectron peaks identified with an automatic finite impulse response algorithm based on the available ELS data accumulated during 56 Titan flybys. The spatial distribution of photoelectron peaks indicates that most photoelectrons detected at an altitude above 4,000 km and a solar zenith angle above 100° are field aligned, which is consistent with the scenario of photoelectron transport along the magnetic field lines. Our analysis also reveals the presence of a photoelectron gap in the deep nightside ionosphere where almost no photoelectrons were detected. It appears to be very difficult for photoelectrons to travel to this region, and such a feature may not be driven by the changes in the orientation between the solar and corotation wakes.
Date Issued
2020-01
Date Acceptance
2019-12-03
Citation
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 2020, 125 (1), pp.1-13
ISSN
2169-9097
Publisher
American Geophysical Union (AGU)
Start Page
1
End Page
13
Journal / Book Title
Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets
Volume
125
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
©2020. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved. This is the accepted version of the following article: Cao, Y., Wellbrock, A., Coates, A. J., Caro‐Carretero, R., Jones, G. H., Cui, J., et al. ( 2020). Field‐aligned photoelectron energy peaks at high altitude and on the nightside of Titan. Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets, 125, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1029/2019JE006252
Sponsor
Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC)
Identifier
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019JE006252
Grant Number
ST/N000692/1
Subjects
0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences
0402 Geochemistry
0403 Geology
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2020-01-16