No Evidence for Time Variation in Saturn’s Internal Magnetic Field

Abstract

Abstract The time variation of a planetary magnetic field can reveal important aspects of a planet's interior structure. Searching for time variation in planetary magnetic fields other than Earth has proved challenging owing to the small number of spacecraft missions flown to date, but such a detection may be possible given a sufficiently long baseline for comparison. Here we leverage 38 years of spacecraft magnetometer measurements to search for time variation in Saturn’s internal magnetic field. To isolate the possible signal of time variation, we remove a contemporary high-resolution internal field model, derived from Cassini data, as well as a best-fitting external magnetodisk field model from each of four past mission data sets: Pioneer 11 (1979), Voyager 1 (1980), Voyager 2 (1981), and Cassini Saturn Orbit Insertion (2004). We then attempt to fit the resulting signal with an axisymmetric internal field model. Overall, we find no evidence of time variation on a multidecadal timescale. Our results lend support to the existence of a stably stratified layer in Saturn and have comparative planetology implications for Jupiter’s interior structure and dynamics.