MESSENGER Observations of Extreme Loading and Unloading of Mercury’s Magnetic Tail
James A. Slavin,Brian J. Anderson,Daniel N. Baker,Mehdi Benna,Scott A. Boardsen,George Gloeckler,Robert E. Gold,George C. Ho,Haje Korth,Stamatios M. Krimigis,Ralph L. McNutt,Larry R. Nittler,Jim M. Raines,Menelaos Sarantos,Menelaos Sarantos,David Schriver,Sean C. Solomon,R. D. Starr,Pavel M. Trávníček,Thomas H. Zurbuchen +19 more
TLDR
Observations during MESSENGER's third flyby of Mercury suggest that magnetic open flux loads the magnetosphere, which is subsequently unloaded by substorms—magnetic disturbances during which energy is rapidly released in the magnetotail.Abstract:
During MESSENGER's third flyby of Mercury, a series of 2-3 minute long enhancements of the magnetic field in the planet's magnetotail were observed. Magnetospheric substorms at Earth are powered by similar tail loading, but the amplitude is approximately 10 times less and the durations are 1 hr. These observations of extreme loading imply that the relative intensity of substorms at Mercury must be much larger than at Earth. The correspondence between the duration of tail enhancements and the calculated approximately 2 min Dungey cycle, which describes plasma circulation through Mercury's magnetosphere, suggests that such circulation determines substorm timescale. A key aspect of tail unloading during terrestrial substorms is the acceleration of energetic charged particles. Such signatures are puzzlingly absent from the MESSENGER flyby measurements.read more
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
Low‐degree structure in Mercury's planetary magnetic field
Brian J. Anderson,Catherine L. Johnson,Catherine L. Johnson,Haje Korth,Reka M. Winslow,Joseph E. Borovsky,Michael E. Purucker,James A. Slavin,Sean C. Solomon,Sean C. Solomon,Maria T. Zuber,Ralph L. McNutt +11 more
TL;DR: The structure of the magnetic field of Mercury was determined from analysis of orbital magnetometer measurements by the MESSENGER spacecraft as mentioned in this paper, where the magnetic equator was identified on 531 low altitude and 120 high altitude equator crossings from the zero in the radial cylindrical magnetic field component.
Journal ArticleDOI
Mercury's magnetopause and bow shock from MESSENGER Magnetometer observations
Reka M. Winslow,Brian J. Anderson,Catherine L. Johnson,Catherine L. Johnson,James A. Slavin,Haje Korth,Michael E. Purucker,Daniel N. Baker,Sean C. Solomon,Sean C. Solomon +9 more
TL;DR: The best fit bow shock shape established under an average Alfven Mach number (MA)o f 6.6 is described by a hyperboloid havingRss=1.96RM andaneccentricityof1.02 as discussed by the authors.
Journal ArticleDOI
MESSENGER observations of magnetopause structure and dynamics at Mercury
Gina A. DiBraccio,James A. Slavin,Scott A. Boardsen,Scott A. Boardsen,Brian J. Anderson,Haje Korth,Thomas H. Zurbuchen,Jim M. Raines,Daniel N. Baker,Ralph L. McNutt,Sean C. Solomon,Sean C. Solomon +11 more
TL;DR: The magnetopause reconnection rate at Mercury is independent of magnetic field shear angle, but it varies inversely with plasma b, the ratio of total thermal pressure to magnetic pressure, in the magnetosheath as mentioned in this paper.
Journal ArticleDOI
MESSENGER Observations of the Spatial Distribution of Planetary Ions Near Mercury
Thomas H. Zurbuchen,Jim M. Raines,James A. Slavin,James A. Slavin,Daniel J. Gershman,Jason A. Gilbert,George Gloeckler,Brian J. Anderson,Daniel N. Baker,Haje Korth,Stamatios M. Krimigis,Stamatios M. Krimigis,Menelaos Sarantos,Menelaos Sarantos,David Schriver,Ralph L. McNutt,Sean C. Solomon +16 more
TL;DR: Global measurements by MESSENGER of the fluxes of heavy ions at Mercury, particularly sodium (Na+) and oxygen (O+), exhibit distinct maxima in the northern magnetic-cusp region, indicating that polar regions are important sources of Mercury's ionized exosphere, presumably through solar-wind sputtering near the poles.
Journal ArticleDOI
Mercury's Weather-Beaten Surface: Understanding Mercury in the Context of Lunar and Asteroidal Space Weathering Studies
Deborah L. Domingue,Clark R. Chapman,Rosemary M. Killen,Thomas H. Zurbuchen,Jason A. Gilbert,Menelaos Sarantos,Mehdi Benna,James A. Slavin,David Schriver,Pavel M. Travnicek,Thomas M. Orlando,Ann L. Sprague,David T. Blewett,Jeffrey J. Gillis-Davis,William C. Feldman,David J. Lawrence,George C. Ho,Denton S. Ebel,Larry R. Nittler,Faith Vilas,Carle M. Pieters,Sean C. Solomon,Sean C. Solomon,Catherine L. Johnson,Catherine L. Johnson,Reka M. Winslow,Jörn Helbert,Patrick N. Peplowski,Shoshana Z. Weider,Nelly Mouawad,Noam R. Izenberg,William E. McClintock +31 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the interrelationships between Mercury's exospheric processes, the space environment, and surface composition are examined and reviewed in the context of our understanding of these same processes on the lunar and asteroid regoliths.
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