Using MHD modeling to specify inner heliosphere conditions during the three MESSENGER Mercury flybys

Details Using MHD modeling to specify inner heliosphere conditions during the three MESSENGER Mercury flybys Using MHD modeling to specify inner heliosphere conditions during the three MESSENGER Mercury flybys

Dec 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmsh42a..06f&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #SH42A-06

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

[7509] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Corona, [7529] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Photosphere, [7537] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Solar And Stellar Variability, [7546] Solar Physics, Astrophysics, And Astronomy / Transition Region

Scientific paper

The three successful flybys of Mercury by the MESSENGER spacecraft occurred, respectively, on 14 January 2008, 6 October 2008, and 29 September 2009. In order to provide contextual information about the solar wind properties and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near the planet at those times, we have used an empirical modeling technique combined with a numerical physics-based solar wind model. The Wang-Sheeley-Arge (WSA) method uses solar photospheric magnetic field observations (from Earth-based instruments) in order to estimate the inner heliospheric radial flow speed and radial magnetic field out to 21.5 solar radii from the Sun. This information is then used as input to the global numerical magnetohydrodynamic model, ENLIL, which calculates solar wind velocity, density, temperature, and magnetic field strength and polarity throughout the inner heliosphere. WSA-ENLIL calculations are presented for the several-week period encompassing each of the flybys. This information in conjunction with available MESSENGER data aid in understanding the Mercury flyby observations and provide a basis for subsequent global magnetospheric modeling. We find that during all three flybys the solar wind conditions were quiescent and would have provided only modest dynamic driving forces for Mercury’s magnetospheric system. We present data-model comparisons for ACE, STEREO-A and -B, and MESSENGER for all of these cases.

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