Mercury-Solar Wind Interaction and Mercury's Current System

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2740 Magnetospheric Configuration And Dynamics, 2753 Numerical Modeling, 2756 Planetary Magnetospheres (5443, 5737, 6030), 2784 Solar Wind/Magnetosphere Interactions, 5443 Magnetospheres (2756)

Scientific paper

The Hermean magnetosphere is anticipated to have certain unique features compared with other planetary magnetospheres. The planet's intrinsic magnetic field is strong enough to form a magnetosphere around the planet. However, it is not clear how the processes in the Hermean magnetosphere resemble the processes that take place in the other magnetospheres. Especially questions how effectively the magnetosphere can shield the planet against the solar wind particles, how much the magnetosphere can store energy in the magnetotail, the role of the direct interaction between the magnetosphere and the planet's surface, and the closure of magnetospheric electric currents call for more detailed studies. We have developed a global three-dimensional (3-D) quasi-neutral hybrid model to study Mercury-solar wind interaction [Kallio and Janhunen, GRL, 2003]. The self-consistent model includes ions that are moved by the Lorentz force, while electrons are a massless charge neutralizing fluid. The approach takes into account the finite ion gyroradius, the velocity difference between different ion species, the large ion loss cone, the non-Maxwellian velocity distribution function, and ions hitting the surface of the planet. In the presentation we use the quasi-neutral hybrid model to study (1) the response of the Hermean magnetosphere to the upstream solar wind parameters, (2) the ion impact at the surface due the direct plasma-surface interaction, and (3) the closure of Hermean magnetospheric currents.

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