The Magnetometer Instrument on MESSENGER

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

doi:10.1007/978-0-387-77214-1_12

Cited by 127 publications

(142 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…The spacecraft MAG instrument 14 recorded four sawtooth patterns 8,15 in the magnetic field in the intervening period from 21:28:10 to 21:29:50 MLT, during which time the MESSENGER was at a radial distance of roughly 3 R M (7,320 km), and slightly tailward of the dusk side flank. The sawtooth oscillations observed by the spacecraft were interpreted by the MESSENGER team scientists as non-linear stage of the KHI 10 .…”

Section: Messenger Spacecraft Observations Of the Khi At Mercurymentioning

confidence: 99%

Dawn–dusk asymmetry in the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability at Mercury

Paral

Rankin

2013

Nat Commun

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The NASA MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft entered orbital phase around Mercury on 18 March 2011. A surprising consistent feature in the data returned is large-scale vortices that form exclusively on the dusk side of the magnetosphere. Here we present global kinetic hybrid simulations that explain these observations. It is shown that vortices are excited by a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability near the subsolar point, which grows convectively along the dusk-side magnetopause. Virtual time series along a track approximating a flyby of the MESSENGER show correspondence with the satellite data; the data contain sawtooth oscillations in plasma density, flow and magnetic field, and exhibit the observed dawn-dusk asymmetry. It is shown that asymmetry between dawn and dusk at Mercury is controlled by the finite gyroradius of ions and by convection electric fields. Mercury's magnetosphere offers a natural laboratory for studying plasma regimes not present in other planetary magnetospheres or the laboratory.

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Section: Messenger Spacecraft Observations Of the Khi At Mercurymentioning

confidence: 99%

Dawn–dusk asymmetry in the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability at Mercury

Paral

Rankin

2013

Nat Commun

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“…The heliocentric radial distance of MESSENGER after this date varied from 0.47 to 0.31 AU (Figure 1b), whereas its longitude with respect to the Earth varied as Mercury orbited around the Sun with a period of~88 days. We use magnetic field data from MES-SENGER's Magnetometer (MAG) [Anderson et al, 2007] and near-relativistic (56-1000 keV) electron intensities measured by EPS [Andrews et al, 2007] on board MESSEN-GER. EPS is mounted on the backside of the spacecraft with a field of view pointing in the antisunward direction, so it mostly detects particles moving sunward.…”

Section: Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Winslow et al, 2013]). The structure of the Mercury's magnetosphere has been described elsewhere [e.g., Anderson et al, 2007Anderson et al, , 2010Anderson et al, , 2011Slavin et al, 2012], and we refer the reader to these articles for details.…”

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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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“…Through the years numerous magnetometer configurations have been flown in space missions and are planned for future missions like the Galileo mission to Jupiter [11], Cassini Huygens to Saturn and its moon Titan [13,14], Mars Global Surveyor to Mars [15], Ulysses to study the IMF [16], NEAR to the asteroid Eros [17], Messenger to Mercury [18], and Ørsted, CHAMP and SWARM to map the Earth magnetic field [19][20][21][22]. The platform for the mentioned space missions are satellites.…”

Section: Magnetic Field Mapping In Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

“…The device of choice is almost without exception a flux gate magnetometer which is sensitive in a single axis [23]. A vector value is obtained by a tri-axial configuration of 3 flux gates [11,13,[16][17][18][19]. The relative field sensitivity, that means the sensitivity to detect variations in the magnetic field, is sufficient for most applications.…”

Section: Magnetic Field Mapping In Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

Hybrid magnetometers for unshielded operation : combining hall sensors with superconducting flux concentrators

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The Magnetometer Instrument on MESSENGER

Cited by 127 publications

References 62 publications

Dawn–dusk asymmetry in the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability at Mercury

Dawn–dusk asymmetry in the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability at Mercury

Intense solar near‐relativistic electron events at 0.3 AU

Hybrid magnetometers for unshielded operation : combining hall sensors with superconducting flux concentrators

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