P11G:
Cassini Saturn Science: From Interior to Ionosphere I

Submit an Abstract to this Session



Session ID#: 32251

Session Description:
The Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn ended in a dramatic plunge into Saturn’s atmosphere in September 2017 sending back data as long as possible. Preceding this, Cassini executed a series of twenty-two highly inclined “Grand Finale” orbits with closest approach between the innermost rings and atmosphere. These orbits provided the unique opportunity to determine higher-order gravitational and magnetic field moments, the composition and structure of the upper atmosphere and exosphere, and the composition of ring particles falling into Saturn’s atmosphere. Cassini collected data that constrained the helium-to-hydrogen ratio in the upper atmosphere. In addition, the highest resolution imaging of Saturn’s polar vortices, hexagonal jet stream, storms and aurora were obtained. Cassini also used passive RADAR to look of fine scale structure in the ammonia abundance. This session reports on results from the unique data sets collected during this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to explore Saturn up close and personal.
Primary Convener:  Scott G Edgington, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States
Conveners:  Andrew P Ingersoll, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, United States, Tommi Koskinen, University of Arizona, Tucson, United States and Jonathan J Fortney, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, United States
Chairs:  Scott G Edgington, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States and John J Blalock, United States Geological Survey, Astrogeology Science Center, Flagstaff, AZ, United States
OSPA Liaison:  Scott G Edgington, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States

Cross-Listed:
  • SM - SPA-Magnetospheric Physics
Index Terms:

5714 Gravitational fields [PLANETARY SCIENCES: FLUID PLANETS]
5724 Interiors [PLANETARY SCIENCES: FLUID PLANETS]
5734 Magnetic fields and magnetism [PLANETARY SCIENCES: FLUID PLANETS]
6275 Saturn [PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS]

Abstracts Submitted to this Session:

Saturn Close Up from Cassini CIRS in the Grand Finale (Invited) (246039)
F Michael Flasar1, Richard K Achterberg2, Gordon L Bjoraker1, Brigette E Hesman3, Nicolas Gorius4 and Cassini CIRS Investigation Team, (1)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (2)University of Maryland, Department of Astronomy, College Park, MD, United States, (3)Space Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, MD, United States, (4)Catholic University of America, Washington, DC, United States
Cassini UVIS Observations of Saturn during the Grand Finale Orbits (Invited) (293482)
Wayne Robert Pryor1, Larry W Esposito2, Robert A West3, Alain Jouchoux2, Aikaterini Radioti4, Denis C Grodent5, Jean-Claude M C Gerard4, Jacques Gustin4, Laurent Lamy6, Sarah Victoria Badman7 and HST Saturn Aurora Team, (1)Central Arizona College, Science & Engineering Division, Coolidge, United States, (2)LASP/University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States, (3)Jet Propulsion Lab, Pasadena, CA, United States, (4)Université de Liège, Liège, Belgium, (5)Université de Liège, LPAP - STAR Institute, Liege, Belgium, (6)Observatoire de Paris, Meudon, France, (7)Lancaster University, Lancaster, United Kingdom
The Bright Side of Saturn’s Gravity (292411)
Burkhard Militzer, University of California Berkeley, Earth and Planetary Science, Berkeley, CA, United States, William B Hubbard, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, United States, Sean M Wahl, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States, Luciano Iess, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, Jonathan J Fortney, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, United States and Linda Joyce Spilker, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, United States
An Ionosphere/Magnetosphere Coupling Current System Located in the Gap Between Saturn and its Rings (234011)
Krishan K Khurana, University of California Los Angeles, Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, Los Angeles, CA, United States, Michele Karen Dougherty, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom, Hao Cao, California Institute of Technology, Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences, Pasadena, CA, United States, Gregory James Hunt, Imperial College London, London, SW7, United Kingdom, G Provan, University of Leicester, Physics and Astronomy, Leicester, LE1, United Kingdom and The Cassini Magnetometer Team
Saturn’s Ionosphere: Cassini/INMS In Situ Measurements and Model Comparisons (296191)
Luke Moore, Boston University, Astronomy; Center for Space Physics, Boston, MA, United States, Ingo C F Mueller-Wodarg, Imperial College London, London, SW7, United Kingdom, Thomas Cravens, University of Kansas, Physics and Astronomy, Lawrence, KS, United States and The Cassini Ion Neutral Mass Spectrometer Team

See more of: Planetary Sciences