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An Eastward Current Encircling Mercury

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2022gl098415· OSTI ID:1880123
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [5];  [1];  [3];  [6];  [1];  [6];  [1]
  1. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China); Univ. of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)
  2. Umeå Univ. (Sweden)
  3. Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
  4. Peking Univ., Beijing (China)
  5. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
  6. Swedish Inst. of Space Physics, Kiruna (Sweden)
+ Show Author Affiliations
Mercury has a terrestrial-like magnetosphere which is usually taken as a scaled-down-version of Earth's magnetosphere with a similar current system. We examine Mercury's magnetospheric current system based on a survey of Mercury's magnetic field measured by the Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry, and Ranging spacecraft as well as computer simulations. We show that there is no significant Earth-like ring current flowing westward around Mercury, instead, we find, for the first time, an eastward current (EC) encircling the planet near the night-side magnetic equator with an altitude of ~500–1,000 km. The EC is closed with the dayside magnetopause current and could be driven by the gradient of plasma pressure as a diamagnetic current. Thus, Mercury's magnetosphere is not a scaled-down Earth magnetosphere, but a unique natural space plasma laboratory. Our findings offer fresh insights to analyze data from the BepiColombo mission, which is expected to orbit Mercury in 2025.
Research Organization:
Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
Chinese Academy of Sciences; National Natural Science Foundation of China; Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA); Swedish Research Council (VR); USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-09CH11466
OSTI ID:
1880123
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 10 Vol. 49; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical Union (AGU)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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