Reconstruction of propagating Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices at Mercury's magnetopause

Physics

Scientific paper

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[2756] Magnetospheric Physics / Planetary Magnetospheres, [2784] Magnetospheric Physics / Solar Wind/Magnetosphere Interactions, [6235] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mercury

Scientific paper

A series of quasi-periodic Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) waves were recorded by the MESSENGER spacecraft during its third flyby of Mercury on 29 September 2009. Exploiting the rapid traversal of the magnetopause, we show that the observations permit a complete reconstruction of the structure of a rolled-up KH vortex directly from the spacecraft's magnetic field measurements. The derived geometry, which previously had been only inferred from computer simulations, shows the internal, vortex-like structure of the waves, which controls the transfer of energy, momentum, and plasma across the magnetopause. The vortices are shown to develop two mixing regions as the KH wave starts to roll up, situated at the leading edges from the perspectives of both the magnetosphere and the magnetosheath.

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