Observation of Bernstein Waves Excited by Newborn Interstellar Pickup Ions in the Solar Wind
A recent examination of 1.9 s magnetic field data recorded by the Voyager 2 spacecraft in transit to Jupiter revealed several instances of strongly aliased spectra suggestive of unresolved high-frequency magnetic fluctuations at 4.4 AU. A closer examination of these intervals using the highest resolution data available revealed one clear instance of wave activity at spacecraft frame frequencies from 0.2 to 1 Hz. Using various analysis techniques, we have characterized these fluctuations as Bernstein mode waves excited by newborn interstellar pickup ions. We can find no other interpretation or source consistent with the observations, but this interpretation is not without questions. In this paper, we report a detailed analysis of the waves, including their frequency and polarization, that supports our interpretation.
Related Deep Space Documents
2019 ARIA Proposal Final Report Public Abstract: What Happens to Life in an Ocean World Plume?
The NASA Cassini mission to Saturn discovered persistent jets of water being ejected into space from a subsurface ocean on the small moon Enceladus and evidence that this ocean is habitable for life.
A Hybrid Electrostatic Retarding Potential Analyzer for the Measurement of Plasmas at Extremely High Energy Resolution
Many space plasmas (especially electrons generated in planetary ionospheres) exhibit fine-detailed structures that are challenging to fully resolve with the energy resolution of typical space plasma a
A Low Density Ocean Inside Titan Inferred From Cassini Data
The Cassini mission has provided measurements of the gravity of several moons of Saturn, as well as an estimate of the tidal response, expressed as the degree 2 Love number <i>k<sub>2</sub></i>, of it