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Published September 1990 | Published
Journal Article Open

Plasma Convection in Neptune's Magnetosphere

Abstract

The magnetosphere of Neptune changes its magnetic configuration continuously as the planet rotates, leading to a strong modulation of the convection electric field. Even though the corotation speed is considerably larger, the modulation causes the small convection speed to have a cumulative effect, much like the acceleration of particles in a cyclotron. A model calculation shows that plasma on one side of the planet convects out of the magnetosphere in a few planetary rotations, while on the other side it convects slowly planetward. The observation of nitrogen ions from a Triton plasma torus may provide a test of the model.

Additional Information

Copyright 1990 by the American Geophysical Union. (Received: February 16, 1990; March 19, 1990.) The author thanks E. C. Stone and J. D. Richardson for helpful discussions. This work was supported by NASA under contracts NAS7-918 and NGR 05-002-160.

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