CLASP is very pleased to welcome Dr. Michelle Thomsen of the Planetary Science Institute for a Special Seminar. Please join us!

Title: “Plasma Transport in Saturn’s Magnetosphere”

Abstract: Saturn’s magnetosphere is often termed “internally driven” because the structure and dynamics are largely determined by a dominant plasma source that lies deep inside the magnetosphere (the water plumes of the moon Enceladus) and by processes driven by the planet’s rapid rotation: 1) centrifugally-driven flux-
tube interchange that delivers inner magnetospheric plasma to the middle magnetosphere; and 2) magnetic reconnection of stretched, plasma-laden flux tubes, with ultimate down-tail loss of plasmoids containing Enceladus-sourced material. There are numerous pieces of evidence supporting this paradigm but also numerous outstanding questions. In this talk we summarize recent efforts to address several aspects of global transport, primarily relating to the interchange process: How and where is it initiated? How deeply into the inner magnetosphere can interchange penetrate? What can we learn about the evolution of interchange injections?