Magnetospheric Periodicities at Saturn Equinox

For several years before equinox, the energetic charged and neutral particles in Saturn’s magnetosphere displayed strong periodicities near 10.8 hours, the same period observed in radio emissions and magnetic fields. These particle periodicities have now been observed at equinox in electrons, protons, oxygen ions, and neutral hydrogen and oxygen atoms at all energies greater than ~3 keV, the lowest energies measured by the Magnetospheric IMaging Instrument (MIMI) on the Cassini spacecraft. The equinoctial electrons exhibit a very strong period at 10.72 hours, while the protons have essentially no periodicity at all. Water group ions display a notable period at 10.73 hours. Both the electrons and the ions have curious overtones in their spectral structure that may be related to solar wind modulation. The energetic neutral hydrogen and oxygen atoms have strong periods of 10.79 hours at equinox. Within the uncertainties of the measurements, the ENA periods are slightly longer than the charged particle periods, although they cover a somewhat different time interval. For comparison, the Cassini magnetometer observed periodicities in Saturn’s magnetic field of 10.65 hours during the same equinoctial interval. These observations will be interpreted in terms of a wavy magnetodisk model.