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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 September 2008
We present unique observations obtained by the Magnetospheric Imaging Instrument (MIMI) on the Cassini spacecraft, of the energetic ion population in the environment upstream from the dawn-to-noon sector of the Kronian magnetosphere during the approach phase and subsequent several orbits of the Cassini spacecraft around the planet. High sensitivity observations of energetic ion directional intensities, energy spectra, and ion composition were obtained by the Ion and Neutral Camera (INCA) of the MIMI instrument complement with a geometry factor of ~2.5 cm2sr. Charge state information was provided by the Charge-Energy-Mass-Spectrometer (CHEMS) over the range ~3 to 220 keV per charge. The observations revealed the presence of distinct upstream bursts of energetic hydrogen and oxygen ions up to distances of ~135 RS. The observations are presented and their theoretical implications are addressed.