Particle Transport and Acceleration in Mercury’s Magnetosphere during the MESSENGER Flybys

Details Particle Transport and Acceleration in Mercury’s Magnetosphere during the MESSENGER Flybys Particle Transport and Acceleration in Mercury’s Magnetosphere during the MESSENGER Flybys

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufm.p24a..07s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #P24A-07

Physics

Plasma Physics

[2753] Magnetospheric Physics / Numerical Modeling, [6235] Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects / Mercury, [7845] Space Plasma Physics / Particle Acceleration, [7846] Space Plasma Physics / Plasma Energization

Scientific paper

The first two MESSENGER flybys on 14 January 2008 and 6 October 2008 encountered very different solar wind interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions. During the first flyby the IMF was northward, while during the second it was southward; in addition, during both flybys the IMF had a large radial (planetward) component. As is well known at the Earth, the orientation of the IMF strongly influences the structure and dynamics of the planetary magnetosphere, and this in turn strongly affects how particles are transported and accelerated as they move through the magnetosphere. To examine the transport, distribution, and energization of plasma (including heavy ions) for the solar wind conditions during the MESSENGER flybys, three-dimensional global hybrid simulations of Mercury’s magnetosphere are used to provide the electric and magnetic field configuration at the time of the flybys, and particle trajectories are then traced through the magnetospheric system. Because electrons are included as a massless fluid in the hybrid simulations, electron transport is also examined using this technique. In particular, these calculations permit an examination of acceleration near reconnection regions, as well as the formation and dynamics of the quasi-stable particle ring around Mercury and sputtering as a source of the planet’s exosphere. Simulation results provide a basis for comparison with MESSENGER data from the first two flybys, as well as from the third flyby on 29 September 2009.

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