The Energetic Particle and Plasma Spectrometer Instrument on the MESSENGER Spacecraft

Andrews, G. B.; Zurbuchen, T. H.; Mauk, B. H.; Malcom, Horace; Fisk, L. A.; Gloeckler, G.; Ho, G. C.; Kelley, Jeffrey S.; Koehn, Patrick L.; LeFevere, Thomas W.; Livi, S.; Lundgren, Rex; Raines, J. M.

doi:10.1007/s11214-007-9272-5

Cited by 204 publications

(149 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…This is even more pronounced for a spacecraft like MESSENGER due to the limited field of view of its plasma instrument, the Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer (FIPS; Zurbuchen et al 1998;Andrews et al 2007), especially in directions transverse to the Mercury-Sun line which limits observations of the solar wind plasma when MESSENGER is outside Mercury's magnetosphere (e.g. Zurbuchen et al 2008; Raines et al 2011).…”

Section: <3mentioning

confidence: 99%

A modelling approach to infer the solar wind dynamic pressure from magnetic field observations inside Mercury’s magnetosphere

Fatemi

Poirier

Holmström

et al. 2018

A&A

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Aims. The lack of an upstream solar wind plasma monitor when a spacecraft is inside the highly dynamic magnetosphere of Mercury limits interpretations of observed magnetospheric phenomena and their correlations with upstream solar wind variations. Methods. We used AMITIS, a three-dimensional GPU-based hybrid model of plasma (particle ions and fluid electrons) to infer the solar wind dynamic pressure and Alfvén Mach number upstream of Mercury by comparing our simulation results with MESSENGER magnetic field observations inside the magnetosphere of Mercury. We selected a few orbits of MESSENGER that have been analysed and compared with hybrid simulations before. Then we ran a number of simulations for each orbit (∼30-50 runs) and examined the effects of the upstream solar wind plasma variations on the magnetic fields observed along the trajectory of MESSENGER to find the best agreement between our simulations and observations. Results. We show that, on average, the solar wind dynamic pressure for the selected orbits is slightly lower than the typical estimated dynamic pressure near the orbit of Mercury. However, we show that there is a good agreement between our hybrid simulation results and MESSENGER observations for our estimated solar wind parameters. We also compare the solar wind dynamic pressure inferred from our model with those predicted previously by the WSA-ENLIL model upstream of Mercury, and discuss the agreements and disagreements between the two model predictions. We show that the magnetosphere of Mercury is highly dynamic and controlled by the solar wind plasma and interplanetary magnetic field. In addition, in agreement with previous observations, our simulations show that there are quasi-trapped particles and a partial ring current-like structure in the nightside magnetosphere of Mercury, more evident during a northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). We also use our simulations to examine the correlation between the solar wind dynamic pressure and stand-off distance of the magnetopause and compare it with MESSENGER observations. We show that our model results are in good agreement with the response of the magnetopause to the solar wind dynamic pressure, even during extreme solar events. We also show that our model can be used as a virtual solar wind monitor near the orbit of Mercury and this has important implications for interpretation of observations by MESSENGER and the future ESA/JAXA mission to Mercury, BepiColombo.

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Section: <3mentioning

confidence: 99%

A modelling approach to infer the solar wind dynamic pressure from magnetic field observations inside Mercury’s magnetosphere

Fatemi

Poirier

Holmström

et al. 2018

A&A

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“…Most of the instruments operate from only four output voltages: ±5 V and ±12 V. The EPPS instrument (Andrews et al 2007) uses ±15 V instead of ±12 V. In addition to providing four secondary outputs, the converters also provide power switches for auxiliary primary power loads and some analog housekeeping capability.…”

Section: Event Processing Unit (Epu)mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Mercury Dual Imaging System on the MESSENGER Spacecraft

Hawkins¹,

Boldt²,

Darlington³

et al. 2007

The Messenger Mission to Mercury

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The Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS) on the MESSENGER spacecraft will provide critical measurements tracing Mercury's origin and evolution. MDIS consists of a monochrome narrow-angle camera (NAC) and a multispectral wide-angle camera (WAC). The NAC is a 1.5°field-of-view (FOV) off-axis reflector, coaligned with the WAC, a fourelement refractor with a 10.5°FOV and 12-color filter wheel. The focal plane electronics of each camera are identical and use a 1,024 × 1,024 Atmel (Thomson) TH7888A chargecoupled device detector. Only one camera operates at a time, allowing them to share a common set of control electronics. The NAC and the WAC are mounted on a pivoting platform that provides a 90°field-of-regard, extending 40°sunward and 50°anti-sunward from the spacecraft +Z-axis-the boresight direction of most of MESSENGER's instruments. Onboard data compression provides capabilities for pixel binning, remapping of 12-bit data into 8 bits, and lossless or lossy compression. MDIS will acquire four main data sets at Mercury during three flybys and the two-Mercury-solar-day nominal mission: a monochrome global image mosaic at near-zero emission angles and moderate incidence angles, a stereocomplement map at off-nadir geometry and near-identical lighting, multicolor images at low incidence angles, and targeted high-resolution images of key surface features. These data will be used to construct a global image base map, a digital terrain model, global maps of color properties, and mosaics of high-resolution image strips. Analysis of these data will provide information on Mercury's impact history, tectonic processes, the composition and emplacement history of volcanic materials, and the thickness distribution and compositional variations of crustal materials. This paper summarizes MDIS's science objectives and technical design, including the common payload design of the MDIS data processing units, as well as detailed results from ground and early flight calibrations and plans for Mercury image products to be generated from MDIS data.

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“…After one Earth flyby, two Venus flybys, and three Mercury flybys, MESSENGER was inserted into orbit about Mercury on 18 March 2011 . Figure 1 shows (a) 71-112 keV electron intensities measured by the Energetic Particle Spectrometer (EPS) on MESSENGER [Andrews et al, 2007] and (b) the heliocentric radial distance of MESSENGER from January 2010 to the end of July 2012. This time interval encompasses the rising phase of solar cycle 24.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Intense solar near‐relativistic electron events at 0.3 AU

Lario

Roelof

et al. 2013

JGR Space Physics

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[1] We study the two most intense electron events observed by the MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft during the rising phase of solar cycle 24. Both events occurred during intense periods of solar activity when sequences of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) emanated from the Sun. The first event occurred on 4 June 2011, when two successive CMEs, spaced by 15 h, were released from the same active region. A possible interpretation for this event is that the first CME, located beyond MESSENGER's heliocentric distance (R = 0.33 AU) at the time of the second CME, acted as a magnetic barrier for solar energetic particles (SEPs) accelerated during the second CME. Elevated electron intensities at MESSENGER resulted from particle confinement between the two CME-driven shocks. This scenario is consistent with that proposed by Kallenrode and Cliver [2001a] to explain intense SEP events. The second event, observed by MESSENGER at R = 0.31 AU on 7 March 2012, belonged to a series of events generated by a single active region. A fast (>1500 km s À1 ) CME occurred 45 h before the onset of the main electron event. That implies that the prior CME-driven shock was at such a distance that particle reflection from behind that shock might have not been sufficient to account for the initial onset of sunward-directed electrons at MESSENGER, and additional mirroring and/or scattering processes closer to MESSENGER were necessary. Elevated intensities in this event are consistent with strong injection of SEPs from close to the Sun and particle reflection at some point in interplanetary space.

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The Energetic Particle and Plasma Spectrometer Instrument on the MESSENGER Spacecraft

Cited by 204 publications

References 19 publications

A modelling approach to infer the solar wind dynamic pressure from magnetic field observations inside Mercury’s magnetosphere

A modelling approach to infer the solar wind dynamic pressure from magnetic field observations inside Mercury’s magnetosphere

The Mercury Dual Imaging System on the MESSENGER Spacecraft

Intense solar near‐relativistic electron events at 0.3 AU

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