Saturn's ULF wave foreshock boundary: Cassini observations

TL;DR

This study uses Cassini spacecraft data to identify and characterize the boundary of Saturn's ULF wave foreshock, revealing wave properties and the boundary's relation to magnetic field geometry.

Contribution

First detailed analysis of Saturn's ULF wave foreshock boundary using Cassini data, identifying wave types and boundary location based on magnetic field geometry.

Findings

ULF waves are associated with Saturn's foreshock.

Two wave types identified: below and above proton cyclotron frequency.

Boundary occurs at 5b0 surface of 5b0

Abstract

Even though the solar wind is highly supersonic, intense ultra-low frequency (ULF) wave activity has been detected in regions just upstream of the bow shocks of magnetized planets. This feature was first observed ahead of the Earth's bow shock, and the corresponding region was called the ULF wave foreshock, which is embedded within the planet's foreshock. The properties as well as the spatial distribution of ULF waves within the Earth's foreshock have been extensively studied over the last three decades and have been explained as a result of plasma instabilities triggered by solar wind ions backstreaming from the bow shock. Since July 2004, the Cassini spacecraft has characterized the Saturnian plasma environment including its upstream region. Since Cassini's Saturn orbit insertion (SOI) in June 2004 through August 2005, we conducted a detailed survey and analysis of observations made by the Vector Helium Magnetometer (VHM). The purpose of the present study is to characterize the properties of waves observed in Saturn's ULF wave foreshock and identify its boundary using single spacecraft techniques. The amplitude of these waves is usually comparable to the mean magnetic field intensity, while their frequencies in the spacecraft frame yields two clearly differentiated types of waves: one with frequencies below the local proton cyclotron frequency (\Omega H+) and another with frequencies above \Omega H+. All the wave crossings described here, clearly show that these waves are associated to Saturn's foreshock. In particular, the presence of waves is associated with the change in \theta Bn to quasi-parallel geometries. Our results show the existence of a clear boundary for Saturn's ULF wave foreshock, compatible with \theta Bn = 45{\deg} surfaces.