A Pioneer-Voyager study of the solar wind interaction with Saturn

Voyager 1/2 observations are used to confirm and quantify the unusual bluntness of the dayside Saturn magnetopause suggested by the earlier Pioneer 11 measurements. Once corrected for variations in solar wind pressure, the Saturn observations are found to indicate a magnetospheric radius in the terminator plane equal to 1.8 times the nose distance. This ratio is 30% greater than the terrestrial value and is corroborated by the very blunt shape of the Saturn bow shock and large width of the forward magnetosheath. Possible causes and ramifications of these results for the solar wind interaction with Saturn are discussed.