Radio Emission Signature of Saturn Immersions in Jupiter's Magnetic Tail

摘要

During the interval from about May through August 1981, when Voyager 2 was inbound to Saturn, the Planetary Radio Astronomy instrument measured repeated, dramatic decreases in the intensity of the Saturn Kilometric Radiation (SKR). The emission dropouts averaged two orders of magnitude below mean energy levels and varied from about 1 to 10 Saturn rotations in duration. Comparison with pre-Saturn encounter Voyager 1 observations (June to November, 1980) shows that the SKR dropouts were unique to the Voyager 2 observing interval, consistent with the closer proximity of Saturn to Jupiter's distant magnetotail in 1981. Further, the dropouts occurred on the average at times when Voyager 2 is known to have been within or near Jupiter's magnetic tail.