Berlin 2005 – scientific programme

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EP: Extraterrestrische Physik

EP 8: Cassini bei Saturn

EP 8.4: Talk

Monday, March 7, 2005, 11:30–11:45, TU BH349

Dust measurements at Saturn — •Ralf Srama¹, Uwe Beckmann¹, Stefan Helfert², Sascha Kempf¹, Harald Krüger³, Anna Mocker-Ahlreep¹, Georg Moragas-Klostermeyer¹, Frank Postberg¹, Frank Spahn⁴, and Eberhard Grün¹ — ¹MPI Kernphysik, Heidelberg, Germany — ²Helfert Informatik, Mannheim — ³MPI Sonnensystemforschung, Katlenburg-Lindau — ⁴Univ. Potsdam

The Cosmic-Dust-Analyzer (CDA) onboard the spacecraft Cassini/Huygens performed its first measurements in the saturnian system. After orbit insertion on July 1st, 2004, the first E-ring crossing occured on October 28, 2004, at a distance of 8 Saturn radii. CDA detected dust particles even at higher latitudes (10 deg above the ring plane) and at distances between the known E-ring and the orbit of Titan (between 8 and 20 Rs). During the E-ring crossing, CDA measured high impact rates and mass spectra of hypervelocity dust impacts. Furthermore, the instrument discovered nm-sized grains leaving the saturnian system with speeds of the order of 100 km/s (Saturn dust streams) during the approach phase and at larger distances from Saturn. After Jupiter, Saturn is the second planet showing the phenomenon.