Philos Trans A Math Phys Eng Sci
December 2024
Triton, the largest satellite of Neptune, is in a retrograde orbit and is likely a captured Kuiper Belt Object (KBO). Triton has a mean density of only 2.061 gm/cm and is therefore believed to have a 250-400 km thick hydrosphere.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring 2017, the Cassini fluxgate magnetometer made in situ measurements of Saturn's magnetic field at distances ~2550 ± 1290 kilometers above the 1-bar surface during 22 highly inclined Grand Finale orbits. These observations refine the extreme axisymmetry of Saturn's internal magnetic field and show displacement of the magnetic equator northward from the planet's physical equator. Persistent small-scale magnetic structures, corresponding to high-degree (>3) axisymmetric magnetic moments, were observed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFExtensive volcanism and high-temperature lavas hint at a global magma reservoir in Io, but no direct evidence has been available. We exploited Jupiter's rotating magnetic field as a sounding signal and show that the magnetometer data collected by the Galileo spacecraft near Io provide evidence of electromagnetic induction from a global conducting layer. We demonstrate that a completely solid mantle provides insufficient response to explain the magnetometer observations, but a global subsurface magma layer with a thickness of over 50 kilometers and a rock melt fraction of 20% or more is fully consistent with the observations.
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