The Cassini Orbiter mission, launched in 1997, has provided state-of-the-art information into the origins and workings of Saturn. Drawing from new discoveries and scientific insight from the mission, this book provides a detailed overview of the planet as revealed by Cassini. Chapters by eminent planetary scientists and researchers from across the world comprehensively review the current state of knowledge regarding Saturn's formation, interior, atmosphere, ionosphere, thermosphere and magnetosphere. Specialised chapters discuss the planet's seasonal variability; the circulation of strong zonal winds; the constantly changing polar aurorae; and the Great Storm of 2010-2011, the most powerful convective storm ever witnessed by humankind. Documenting the latest research on the planet, from its formation to how it operates today, this is an essential reference for graduate students, researchers and planetary scientists.
About the Author
Kevin H. Baines is a Senior Scientist at the Space Science and Engineering Center, at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Principal Scientist at California Institute of Technology/Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena. He has over 35 years of experience in the development, planning, data analysis and publication of science results from NASA and ESA planetary orbital missions. Specializing in the 3-D nature of planetary atmospheres as gleaned from spacecraft-borne visual-to-near-infrared spectral imagers, he has been a NASA-selected scientist on the Cassini-Huygens and Galileo orbiter missions to Jupiter and Saturn and was the leader of the NASA science team on ESA's Venus Express orbiter mission.
CONTENTS
List of Contributors
List of Reviewers
1 Introduction to Saturn in the 21st Century
2 The Origin and Evolution of Saturn, with Exoplanet Perspective
3 The Interior of Saturn
4 Saturn's Magnetic Field and Dynamo
5 The Mysterious Periodicities of Saturn: Clues to the Rotation Rate of the Planet
6 Global Configuration and Seasonal Variations of Saturn's Magnetosphere
7 Saturn's Aurorae
8 Saturn's Ionosphere
9 Saturn's Variable Thermosphere
10 Saturn's Seasonally Changing Atmosphere: Thermal Structure, Composition and Aerosols
11 The Global Atmospheric Circulation of Saturn
12 Saturn's Polar Atmosphere
13 The Great Saturn Storm of 2010-2011
14 The Future Exploration of Saturn
Index
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