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New observations of the planet Saturn's final orbits of the Cbadini probe reveal a surprisingly powerful and dynamic interaction of plasma waves moving from Saturn to its rings and moon Enceladus. Research shows that the waves travel on magnetic field lines connecting Saturn directly to Enceladus. The field lines are like an electrical circuit between the two bodies, the researchers said, with energy flowing back and forth.
The recording was captured on September 2, 2017, two weeks before the end of Cbadini's mission in the atmosphere of Saturn. The researchers converted the recording of plasma waves into a "whooshing" audio file – in the same way that a radio translates electromagnetic waves into music. In other words, Cbadini has detected electromagnetic waves in the audio frequency range – and in the field we can amplify and play these signals through a speaker. The recording time was compressed from 16 minutes to 28.5 seconds.
The Grand Finale orbits of NASA's Cbadini spacecraft have found a powerful interaction between the plasma waves from Saturn to its rings and its moon Enceladus. Image via NASA / JPL-Caltech
Just like air or water, plasma (the fourth state of matter that unlike solids, liquids and gases, does not exist freely on the surface of the Earth) generates energy waves. The instrument of Radio and Plasma Wave Science (RPWS) aboard Cbadini recorded intense plasma waves during one of its closest encounters with Saturn.
Ali Sulaiman, planet scientist at the University of Iowa and member of the RPWS team author of a pair of documents describing the results, published on June 7, 2018 and April 28 2018, in Geophysical Research Letters . Sualiman said in a statement:
Enceladus is this little generator around Saturn, and we know that it is a source of continuous energy. Now we find that Saturn responds by throwing signals in the form of plasma waves, through the circuit of magnetic field lines that connect it to Enceladus hundreds of thousands of miles away.
According to a statement by NASA:
Saturn and Enceladus are different from the relationship of the Earth and its moon. Enceladus is immersed in the magnetic field of Saturn and is geologically active, emitting plumes of water vapor that ionize and fill the environment around Saturn. Our own moon does not interact in the same way with the Earth. Similar interactions take place between Saturn and its rings, because they are also very dynamic.
Conclusion: Scientists have discovered a surprisingly powerful interaction between the plasma waves moving from Saturn to its moon Enceladus. The researchers converted a NASA spacecraft record of NASA's plasma waves into a "whooshing" audio file.
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