U. Mall et al., Cassini as a heliospheric probe - the potential of pick-up ion measurements during its cruise phase, PLANET SPAC, 46(9-10), 1998, pp. 1375-1382
Measurements of the spatial distributions of pick-up ions can be utilized t
o infer important information about the structure of the heliosphere. First
, a determination of the symmetry axis of flux distributions of pick-up ion
s not experiencing any significant filtration of their neutral parent atoms
in the heliospheric interface represents a new method to derive the orient
ation of the upwind-downwind axis of the heliosphere from observation. Seco
nd, a comparison of pick-up ion flux distributions resulting from neutrals
both filtered and not filtered during their passage through the heliospheri
c interface might provide insight into the geometry of the interface and, s
ub-sequently, give information about the strength and orientation of the lo
cal interstellar magnetic field. A feasibility study for carrying out such
measurements with the Cassini spacecraft is presented, and the most promisi
ng pick-up ion candidates are identified. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. Al
l rights reserved.