Imperial College London
Alternate

ProfessorMicheleDougherty

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Physics

Head of Department of Physics, Professor of Space Physics
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 7770m.dougherty Website

 
 
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Assistant

 

Ms Lida Mnatsakanian +44 (0)20 7594 7503

 
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Location

 

Blackett 900aBlackett LaboratorySouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Kinrade:2017:10.1002/2016JA023792,
author = {Kinrade, J and Badman, SV and Bunce, EJ and Tao, C and Provan, G and Cowley, SWH and Grocott, A and Gray, RL and Grodent, D and Kimura, T and Nichols, JD and Arridge, CS and Radioti, A and Clarke, JT and Crary, FJ and Pryor, WR and Melin, H and Baines, KH and Dougherty, MK},
doi = {10.1002/2016JA023792},
journal = {JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS},
pages = {6121--6138},
title = {An isolated, bright cusp aurora at Saturn},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016JA023792},
volume = {122},
year = {2017}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - Saturn's dayside aurora displays a number of morphological features poleward of the main emission region. We present an unusual morphology captured by the Hubble Space Telescope on 14 June 2014 (day 165), where for 2 h, Saturn's FUV aurora faded almost entirely, with the exception of a distinct emission spot at high latitude. The spot remained fixed in local time between 10 and 15 LT and moved poleward to a minimum colatitude of ~4°. It was bright and persistent, displaying intensities of up to 49 kR over a lifetime of 2 h. Interestingly, the spot constituted the entirety of the northern auroral emission, with no emissions present at any other local time—including Saturn's characteristic dawn arc, the complete absence of which is rarely observed. Solar wind parameters from propagation models, together with a Cassini magnetopause crossing and solar wind encounter, indicate that Saturn's magnetosphere was likely to have been embedded in a rarefaction region, resulting in an expanded magnetosphere configuration during the interval. We infer that the spot was sustained by reconnection either poleward of the cusp or at low latitudes under a strong component of interplanetary magnetic field transverse to the solar wind flow. The subsequent poleward motion could then arise from either reconfiguration of successive open field lines across the polar cap or convection of newly opened field lines. We also consider the possible modulation of the feature by planetary period rotating current systems.
AU  - Kinrade,J
AU  - Badman,SV
AU  - Bunce,EJ
AU  - Tao,C
AU  - Provan,G
AU  - Cowley,SWH
AU  - Grocott,A
AU  - Gray,RL
AU  - Grodent,D
AU  - Kimura,T
AU  - Nichols,JD
AU  - Arridge,CS
AU  - Radioti,A
AU  - Clarke,JT
AU  - Crary,FJ
AU  - Pryor,WR
AU  - Melin,H
AU  - Baines,KH
AU  - Dougherty,MK
DO  - 10.1002/2016JA023792
EP  - 6138
PY  - 2017///
SN  - 2169-9380
SP  - 6121
TI  - An isolated, bright cusp aurora at Saturn
T2  - JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH-SPACE PHYSICS
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/2016JA023792
UR  - http://gateway.webofknowledge.com/gateway/Gateway.cgi?GWVersion=2&SrcApp=PARTNER_APP&SrcAuth=LinksAMR&KeyUT=WOS:000405534800017&DestLinkType=FullRecord&DestApp=ALL_WOS&UsrCustomerID=1ba7043ffcc86c417c072aa74d649202
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/57273
VL  - 122
ER  -
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