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Modeling of the Magnetosphere of Mercury at the Time of the First MESSENGER FlybyThe 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.
Document ID
20110013540
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Benna, Mehdi
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Anderson, Brian J.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Baker, Daniel N.
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Boardsen, Scott A.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Gloeckler, George
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Gold, Robert E.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Ho, George C.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Killen, Rosemary M.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Korth, Haje
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Krimigis, Stamatios M.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Purucker, Michael E.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
McNutt, Ralph L.
(Johns Hopkins Univ. Laurel, MD, United States)
Raines, Jim M.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
McClintock, William E.
(Colorado Univ. Boulder, CO, United States)
Sarantos, Menelaos
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Slavin, James A.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Solomon, Sean C.
(Carnegie Institution of Washington Washington, DC, United States)
Zurbuchen, Thomas H.
(Michigan Univ. Ann Arbor, MI, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
September 1, 2010
Publication Information
Publication: Icarus
Publisher: Elsevier
Volume: 209
ISSN: 0019-1035
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
GSFC.JA.4602.2011
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NASW-00002
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAS5-97271
CONTRACT_GRANT: NNX07AR61G
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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