| タイトル | Modeling of the Magnetosphere of Mercury at the Time of the First MESSENGER Flyby |
| 著者（英） | Solomon, Sean C.; Krimigis, Stamatios M.; Benna, Mehdi; Gold, Robert E.; Raines, Jim M.; Anderson, Brian J.; Ho, George C.; McClintock, William E.; Killen, Rosemary M.; Purucker, Michael E.; Zurbuchen, Thomas H.; Slavin, James A.; Sarantos, Menelaos; Korth, Haje; Boardsen, Scott A.; Gloeckler, George; Baker, Daniel N.; McNutt, Ralph L. |
| 著者所属（英） | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center |
| 発行日 | 2010-09-01 |
| 言語 | eng |
| 内容記述 | The MESSENGER spacecraft flyby of Mercury on 14 January 2008 provided a new opportunity to study the intrinsic magnetic field of the innermost planet and its interaction with the solar wind, The model presented in this paper is based on the solution of the three-dimensional, bi-f1uid equations for solar wind protons and electrons in the absence of mass loading, In this study we provide new estimates of Mercury's intrinsic magnetic field and the solar wind conditions that prevailed at the time of the flyby. We show that the location of the boundary layers and the strength of the magnetic field along the spacecraft trajectory can be reproduced with a solar wind ram pressure P(sub sw) = 6.8 nPa and a planetary magnetic dipole having a magnitude of 210 R(sub M)(exp 3)- nT and an offset of 0.18 R(sub M) to the north of the equator, where R(sub M) is Mercury's radius. Analysis of the plasma flow reveals the existence of a stable drift belt around the planet; such a belt can account for the locations of diamagnetic decreases observed by the MESSENGER Magnetometer. Moreover, we determine that the ion impact rate at the n011hern cusp was four times higher than at the southern cusp, a result that provides a possible explanation for the observed north-south asymmetry in exospheric sodium in the neutral tail. |
| NASA分類 | Lunar and Planetary Science and Exploration |
| レポートNO | GSFC.JA.4602.2011 |
| 権利 | Copyright |
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