The Magnetometer Instrument on MESSENGER

Anderson, B. J.; Acuña, M. H.; Lohr, D.; Scheifele, J. L.; Raval, Asseem; Korth, H.; Slavin, J. A.

doi:10.1007/s11214-007-9246-7

Cited by 267 publications

(174 citation statements)

References 63 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

173

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Despite the similarities in the overall structures of the magnetospheres of Mercury and the Earth, magnetic field observations by the MESSENGER magnetometer (MAG; Anderson et al 2007) have indicated that Mercury's magnetospheric phenomena occur on spatial and temporal scales that are very different to those at Earth and any other magnetized planet in the solar system (e.g. Slavin et al 2009Slavin et al , 2010DiBraccio et al 2013;Raines et al 2015).…”

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

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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.

show abstract

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

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The long distances inferred for L1 observers may be due to not only an energy dependence of injection and transport of the particles but also to the presence of the prior CME (Figure 2(c)) that might have distorted the nominal transport conditions between the Sun and Earth. Figure 12 shows, from top to bottom, (a) near-relativistic electron intensities measured in two different energy channels of MESSENGER/EPS, and the magnetic field (b) magnitude, (c) polar and (d) azimuth angles in the spacecraft-centered RTN coordinate system as measured by the magnetometer (MAG) onboard MESSENGER (Anderson et al 2007) from day 55 to day 61 of 2014. The onset of the SEP event at MESSENGER was observed in the 71-112 keV electron channel at ∼06:50 UT on day 56.…”

Section: Symbols Inmentioning

confidence: 99%

Longitudinal Properties of a Widespread Solar Energetic Particle Event on 2014 February 25: Evolution of the Associated Cme Shock

Lario

Kwon

Vourlidas

et al. 2016

ApJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We investigate the solar phenomena associated with the origin of the solar energetic particle (SEP) event observed on 2014 February 25 by a number of spacecraft distributed in the inner heliosphere over a broad range of heliolongitudes. These include spacecraft located near Earth; the twin Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory spacecraft, STEREO-A and STEREO-B, located at ∼1 au from the Sun 153°west and 160°east of Earth, respectively; the MErcury Surface Space ENvironment GEochemistry and Ranging mission (at 0.40 au and 31°w est of Earth); and the Juno spacecraft (at 2.11 au and 48°east of Earth). Although the footpoints of the field lines nominally connecting the Sun with STEREO-A, STEREO-B and near-Earth spacecraft were quite distant from each other, an intense high-energy SEP event with Fe-rich prompt components was observed at these three locations. The extent of the extreme-ultraviolet wave associated with the solar eruption generating the SEP event was very limited in longitude. However, the white-light shock accompanying the associated coronal mass ejection extended over a broad range of longitudes. As the shock propagated into interplanetary space it extended over at least ∼190°i n longitude. The release of the SEPs observed at different longitudes occurred when the portion of the shock magnetically connected to each spacecraft was already at relatively high altitudes (2 R e above the solar surface). The expansion of the shock in the extended corona, as opposite to near the solar surface, determined the SEP injection and SEP intensity-time profiles at different longitudes.

show abstract

“…We see more than one streamers interacting with the shock in Figure 3, but we cannot determine which interaction produced the type II radio burst. Figure 7 shows the solar wind magnetic field measurements by the MESSENGER Magnetometer (Anderson et al 2007). MESSENGER was orbiting Mercury approximately in the Y-Z plane of the Mercury Solar Orbital frame with a period of 8 hours, the periapsis of 2795 km and the apoapsis of 12677 km (from the center of the planet).…”

Section: Propagation In Interplanetary Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

Sun-to-Earth Characteristics of the 2012 July 12 Coronal Mass Ejection and Associated Geo-Effectiveness

Liu

Wang

et al. 2016

ApJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We analyze multi-spacecraft observations associated with the 2012 July 12 Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), covering the source region on the Sun from SDO, stereoscopic imaging observations from STEREO, magnetic field characteristics at MESSENGER, and type II radio burst and in situ measurements from Wind. A triangulation method based on STEREO stereoscopic observations is employed to determine the kinematics of the CME, and the outcome is compared with the result derived from the type II radio burst with a solar wind electron density model. A Grad-Shafranov technique is applied to Wind in situ data to reconstruct the flux-rope structure and compare it with the observation of the solar source region, which helps understand the geo-effectiveness associated with the CME structure. Conclusions are as follows: (1) the CME undergoes an impulsive acceleration, a rapid deceleration before reaching MESSENGER, and then a gradual deceleration out to 1 AU, which should be noticed in CME kinematics models; (2) the type II radio burst was probably produced from a high-density interaction region between the CME-driven shock and a nearby streamer or from the shock flank with lower heights, which implies uncertainties in the determination of CME kinematics using solely type II radio bursts; (3) the flux-rope orientation and chirality deduced from in situ reconstruction at Wind agree with those obtained from solar source observations; (4) the prolonged southward magnetic field near the Earth is mainly from the axial component of the largely southward inclined flux rope, which indicates the importance of predicting both the flux-rope orientation and magnetic field components in geomagnetic activity forecasting.

show abstract

The Magnetometer Instrument on MESSENGER

Cited by 267 publications

References 63 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

Longitudinal Properties of a Widespread Solar Energetic Particle Event on 2014 February 25: Evolution of the Associated Cme Shock

Sun-to-Earth Characteristics of the 2012 July 12 Coronal Mass Ejection and Associated Geo-Effectiveness

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About