Discovery of a north-south asymmetry in Saturn's radio rotation period

Donald A. Gurnett (1) , Alain Lecacheux (2, 3) , William S. Kurth (1) , A. M. Persoon (1) , J. B. Groene (1) , Laurent Lamy (4, 2, 3) , Philippe Zarka (2, 3) , J. F. Carbary (5)

1 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Iowa State University
2 LESIA - Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique
3 Physique des plasmas
4 Imperial College London
5 APL - Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory [Laurel, MD]

For many years it has been known that Saturn emits intense radio emissions at kilometer wavelengths and that this radiation is modulated by the rotation of the planet at a rate that varies by up to one percent on a time scale of years. Recent radio observations from the Cassini spacecraft have revealed the appearance of a second component, with a rotation period of about 10.6 hours, significantly less than the period of the previously known component, which is currently about 10.8 hours. In this paper we show that the first component originates from the southern auroral region, and that the second component originates from the northern auroral region. This north-south asymmetry in the rotation period has potentially important implications on how angular momentum is transferred from the interior to the magnetosphere.

Domaines: Astrophysique [astro-ph]

Donald A. Gurnett, Alain Lecacheux, William S. Kurth, A. M. Persoon, J. B. Groene, et al.. Discovery of a north-south asymmetry in Saturn's radio rotation period. Geophysical Research Letters, 2009, 36, pp.16102. ⟨10.1029/2009GL039621⟩. ⟨hal-03786127⟩