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Ejection of nitrogen from Titan's atmosphere by magnetospheric ions and pick-up ions |
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| Authors: | M Michael RE Johnson M Liu VI Shematovich |
| Institution: | a Materials Science and Engineering, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22904, USA b Service d'Aeronomie du CNRS, 91371 Verrieres-Le-Buisson Cedex, France c Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA d Institute of Astronomy, RAS, Moscow, Russia |
| Abstract: | A 3-D Monte Carlo model is used to describe the ejection of N and N2 from Titan due to the interaction of Saturn's magnetospheric N+ ions and molecular pick-up ions with its N2 atmosphere. Based on estimates of the ion flux into Titan's corona, atmospheric sputtering is an important source of both atomic and molecular nitrogen for the neutral torus and plasma in Saturn's outer magnetosphere, a region now being studied by the Cassini spacecraft. |
| Keywords: | Titan Satellites of Saturn Magnetospheres Collisional physics |
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