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Mercury's surface magnetic field determined from proton‐reflection magnetometry
Author(s) -
Winslow Reka M.,
Johnson Catherine L.,
Anderson Brian J.,
Gershman Daniel J.,
Raines Jim M.,
Lillis Robert J.,
Korth Haje,
Slavin James A.,
Solomon Sean C.,
Zurbuchen Thomas H.,
Zuber Maria T.
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2014gl060258
Subject(s) - magnetometer , solar wind , mercury's magnetic field , geophysics , mercury (programming language) , magnetic field , northern hemisphere , latitude , atmospheric sciences , magnetosphere , earth's magnetic field , physics , geology , interplanetary magnetic field , astronomy , quantum mechanics , computer science , programming language
Solar wind protons observed by the MESSENGER spacecraft in orbit about Mercury exhibit signatures of precipitation loss to Mercury's surface. We apply proton‐reflection magnetometry to sense Mercury's surface magnetic field intensity in the planet's northern and southern hemispheres. The results are consistent with a dipole field offset to the north and show that the technique may be used to resolve regional‐scale fields at the surface. The proton loss cones indicate persistent ion precipitation to the surface in the northern magnetospheric cusp region and in the southern hemisphere at low nightside latitudes. The latter observation implies that most of the surface in Mercury's southern hemisphere is continuously bombarded by plasma, in contrast with the premise that the global magnetic field largely protects the planetary surface from the solar wind.