2019/04/30 by Chuanfei Dong, Liang Wang, Ammar Hakim +4 · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #physics.space-ph #astro-ph.EP #physics.comp-ph #physics.plasm-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1029/2019gl083180
published as Geophysical Research Letters, 46, 11584-11596, 2019 · Geophysical Research Letters, in press, 17 pages, 4 (fancy) figures
arxiv created 2019/09/21 · arxiv updated 2019/12/10
For the first time, we explore the tightly coupled interior-magnetosphere system of Mercury by employing a three-dimensional ten-moment multifluid model. This novel fluid model incorporates the non-ideal effects including the Hall effect, inertia, and tensorial pressures that are critical for collisionless magnetic reconnection; therefore, it is particularly well suited for investigating collisionless magnetic reconnection in Mercury's magnetotail and at the planet's magnetopause. The model is able to reproduce the observed magnetic field vectors, field-aligned currents, and cross-tail current sheet asymmetry (beyond the MHD approach) and the simulation results are in good agreement with spacecraft observations. We also study the magnetospheric response of Mercury to a hypothetical extreme event with an enhanced solar wind dynamic pressure, which demonstrates the significance of induction effects resulting from the electromagnetically-coupled interior. More interestingly, plasmoids (or flux ropes) are formed in Mercury's magnetotail during the event, indicating the highly dynamic nature of Mercury's magnetosphere.