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Observations of Kelvin-Helmholtz Waves Along the Dusk-Side Boundary of Mercury's Magnetosphere During MESSENGER's Third FlybyDuring the third MESSENGER flyby of Mercury on 29 September 2009, 15 crossings of the dusk-side magnetopause were observed in the magnetic field data over a 2-min period, during which the spacecraft traveled a distance of 0.2 R(sub M) (where R(sub M) is Mercury's radius). The quasi-periodic nature of the magnetic field variations during the crossings, the characteristic time separations of approx.16 s between pairs of crossings, and the variations of the magnetopause normal directions indicate that the signals are likely the signature of surface waves highly steepened at their leading edge that arose from the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. At Earth, the Kelvin- Helmholtz instability is believed to lead to the turbulent transport of solar wind plasma into Earth's plasma sheet. This solar wind entry mechanism could also be important at Mercury. Citation: Boardsen, S. A., T. Sundberg, J. A.Slavin, B. J. Anderson, H. Korth, S. C. Solomon, and L. G. Blomberg (2010), Observations of Kelvin-Helmholtz waves along the dusk-side boundary of Mercury s magnetosphere during MESSENGER's third flyby,
Document ID
20110013499
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Boardsen, Scott A.
(Maryland Univ. Baltimore County Baltimore, MD, United States)
Sundberg, Torgjoern
(Royal Inst. of Tech. Stockholm, Sweden)
Slavin, James A.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Anderson, Brian J.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Korth, Haje
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Solomon, Sean C.
(Carnegie Institution of Washington Washington, DC, United States)
Blomberg, Lars G.
(Royal Inst. of Tech. Stockholm, Sweden)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2010
Publication Information
Publication: Geophysical Research Letters
Volume: 37
Subject Category
Geophysics
Report/Patent Number
GSFC.JA4558.2011
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NASW-00002
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS5-97271
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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