Whistler waves associated with the Uranian bow shock: Outbound observations

Journal Article · Sun Sep 01 04:00:00 EDT 1991 · Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/91JA01460· OSTI ID:5182260

Smith, C W ^[1]; Wong, H K ^[2]; Goldstein, M L ^[3]

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1. Univ. of Delaware, Newark (United States)
2. Southwest Research Inst., San Antonio, TX (United States)
3. Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States)

The encounter of the Voyager 2 spacecraft with the Uranian planetary system led to a series of outbound crossings of the Uranian bow shock between January 27 and January 30 of 1986. Examination of magnetic field data recorded in close proximity to the shock reveals a series of whistler wave events that appear to result from processes associated with the shock. Two wave events display two separate and simultaneous wave enhancements each, one at approximately 0.2 Hz and the second more nearly at 1 Hz in the spacecraft reference frame. The authors have examined these wave events using high-resolution magnetic field data and conclude that they are analogous to those whistler waves upstream of the Earth's bow shock that are driven by beams of electrons. Using observations by the plasma wave science experiment on Voyager 2 to infer the likely presence of electron beams with modest beam speeds, they present an instability analysis and show that a single electron beam with reasonable parameters can generate both the observed whistler wave forms simultaneously. A third wave event is also seen which occurs both upstream and downstream of a shock crossing. They argue that this event is most likely the result of a gyrating proton distribution associated with the oblique shock. As such, it is analogous to whistler waves observed earlier during the inbound crossing of the Uranian shock.

• OSTI ID: 5182260
• Journal Information: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Geophysical Research; (United States) Vol. 96:A9; ISSN 0148-0227; ISSN JGREA
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640107* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Planetary Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
BEAMS
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DATA ANALYSIS
EARTH PLANET
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRON BEAMS
EVALUATION
INTERACTIONS
LEPTON BEAMS
NOISE
PARTICLE BEAMS
PLANETS
PLASMA WAVES
RADIATIONS
RADIO NOISE
RADIOWAVE RADIATION
SHOCK WAVES
SOLAR ACTIVITY
SOLAR WIND
SPACE VEHICLES
URANUS PLANET
VEHICLES
VOYAGER SPACE PROBES
WHISTLERS