Electron Transport and Energization in Mercury's Magnetosphere

Details Electron Transport and Energization in Mercury's Magnetosphere Electron Transport and Energization in Mercury's Magnetosphere

Dec 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmsm21b1897s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #SM21B-1897

Physics

[2753] Magnetospheric Physics / Numerical Modeling, [2756] Magnetospheric Physics / Planetary Magnetospheres

Scientific paper

To examine electron transport, energization, and precipitation in Mercury’s magnetosphere, a simulation study has been carried out that follows electron trajectories within the global magnetospheric electric and magnetic field configuration of Mercury. We report analysis for two solar-wind conditions corresponding to the first two MESSENGER Mercury flybys on January 14, 2008, and October 6, 2008, which occurred at times of similar solar wind speed and density but contrasting interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) directions. During the first flyby the IMF had a northward component, while during the second flyby the IMF was southward. Electron trajectories are traced in the fields of global hybrid simulations for the two flybys. Some solar wind electrons follow complex trajectories at or near where dayside reconnection occurs and enter the magnetosphere at these locations. The entry locations depend on the IMF orientation (north or south). As the electrons move through the entry regions they can be energized as they execute non-adiabatic (demagnetized) motion. Once within the magnetosphere, a fraction of the electrons precipitate at the planetary surface with fluxes of ~ 10 9 cm -2 s -1 and energies of hundreds of eV. This finding may have implications for the importance of electron-stimulated desorption as a mechanism for contributing to the formation of the exosphere and heavy ion cloud around Mercury.

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