MESSENGER Observations of Extreme Loading and Unloading of Mercury’s Magnetic Tail | Zendy

J. A. Slavin | Zendy; B. J. Anderson | Zendy; D. N. Baker | Zendy; M. Benna | Zendy; S. A. Boardsen | Zendy; G. Gloeckler | Zendy; R. E. Gold | Zendy; G. C. Ho | Zendy; H. Korth | Zendy; S. M. Krimigis | Zendy; R. L. McNutt | Zendy; L. R. Nittler | Zendy; J. M. Raines | Zendy; M. Sarantos | Zendy; D. Schriver | Zendy; Sean C. Solomon | Zendy; R. Starr | Zendy; P. Trávnı́ček | Zendy; T. H. Zurbuchen | Zendy

AI Assistant Blog Pricing

Home ZAIA Blog

Open Access

MESSENGER Observations of Extreme Loading and Unloading of Mercury’s Magnetic Tail

Author(s) -

J. A. Slavin,

B. J. Anderson,

D. N. Baker,

M. Benna,

S. A. Boardsen,

G. Gloeckler,

R. E. Gold,

G. C. Ho,

H. Korth,

S. M. Krimigis,

R. L. McNutt,

L. R. Nittler,

J. M. Raines,

M. Sarantos,

D. Schriver,

Sean C. Solomon,

R. Starr,

P. Trávnı́ček,

T. H. Zurbuchen

Publication year - 2010

Publication title -

science

Language(s) - English

Resource type - Journals

SCImago Journal Rank - 12.556

H-Index - 1186

eISSN - 1095-9203

pISSN - 0036-8075

DOI - 10.1126/science.1188067

Subject(s) - mercury (programming language) , exosphere , magnetosphere , planet , mercury's magnetic field , physics , astrobiology , solar wind , geophysics , volcano , ionosphere , magnetic field , astrophysics , geology , ion , interplanetary magnetic field , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language , seismology

During MESSENGER's third flyby of Mercury, the magnetic field in the planet's magnetic tail increased by factors of 2 to 3.5 over intervals of 2 to 3 minutes. Magnetospheric substorms at Earth are powered by similar tail loading, but the amplitude is lower by a factor of approximately 10 and typical durations are approximately 1 hour. The extreme tail loading observed at Mercury implies that the relative intensity of substorms must be much larger than at Earth. The correspondence between the duration of tail field enhancements and the characteristic time for the Dungey cycle, which describes plasma circulation through Mercury's magnetosphere, suggests that such circulation determines the substorm time scale. A key aspect of tail unloading during terrestrial substorms is the acceleration of energetic charged particles, but no acceleration signatures were seen during the MESSENGER flyby.

The content you want is available to Zendy users.

Already have an account? Click here to sign in.

Having issues? You can contact us here

Accelerating Research