Publication Date:
2005-02-26
Description:
Ions were detected in the vicinity of Saturn's A ring by the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) instrument onboard the Cassini Orbiter during the spacecraft's passage over the rings. The INMS saw signatures of molecular and atomic oxygen ions and of protons, thus demonstrating the existence of an ionosphere associated with the A ring. A likely explanation for these ions is photoionization by solar ultraviolet radiation of neutral O2 molecules associated with a tenuous ring atmosphere. INMS neutral measurements made during the ring encounter are dominated by a background signal.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Waite, J H Jr -- Cravens, T E -- Ip, W-H -- Kasprzak, W T -- Luhmann, J G -- McNutt, R L -- Niemann, H B -- Yelle, R V -- Mueller-Wodarg, I -- Ledvina, S A -- Scherer, S -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2005 Feb 25;307(5713):1260-2.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Physics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15731442" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉
Keywords:
Atmosphere
;
Extraterrestrial Environment
;
Ice
;
Ions
;
Mass Spectrometry
;
*Oxygen
;
Protons
;
*Saturn
;
Spacecraft
Print ISSN:
0036-8075
Electronic ISSN:
1095-9203
Topics:
Biology
,
Chemistry and Pharmacology
,
Computer Science
,
Medicine
,
Natural Sciences in General
,
Physics
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