An Eastward Current Encircling Mercury

Shi, Z.; Rong, Z. J.; Fatemi, S.; Slavin, J. A.; Klinger, L.; Dong, C.; Wang, L.; Zhong, J.; Raines, J. M.; Holmström, M.; Yuan, C. J.; Barabash, S.; Wei, Y.

doi:10.1029/2022gl098415

Title: An Eastward Current Encircling Mercury

Journal Article · 13 May 2022 · Geophysical Research Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2022gl098415 · OSTI ID:1880123

^[1];

^[1]; Fatemi, S. ^[2];

^[3]; Klinger, L. ^[4];

^[5];

^[1];

^[3];

^[6];

^[1]; Barabash, S. ^[6];

^[1]

Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China); Univ. of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing (China)
Umeå Univ. (Sweden)
Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Peking Univ., Beijing (China)
Princeton Univ., NJ (United States)
Swedish Inst. of Space Physics, Kiruna (Sweden)

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.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Cite

Export

Save

Research Organization:: Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE; Chinese Academy of Sciences; National Natural Science Foundation of China; Swedish Research Council (VR); Swedish National Space Agency (SNSA)

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

References (47)

Magnetic flux pileup and plasma depletion in Mercury's subsolar magnetosheath: PLASMA DEPLETION AT MERCURY Gershman, Daniel J.; Slavin, James A.; Raines, Jim M. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1002/2013ja019244	journal	November 2013
Direct calculation of the ring current distribution and magnetic structure seen by Cluster during geomagnetic storms: DISTORTIONS BY RING CURRENTS Shen, C.; Yang, Y. Y.; Rong, Z. J. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 119, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/2013ja019460	journal	April 2014
Plasma distribution in Mercury's magnetosphere derived from MESSENGER Magnetometer and Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer observations: Mercury plasma distribution Korth, Haje; Anderson, Brian J.; Gershman, Daniel J. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 119, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1002/2013ja019567	journal	April 2014
MESSENGER observations of suprathermal electrons in Mercury's magnetosphere Ho, George C.; Starr, Richard D.; Krimigis, Stamatios M. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 43, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015gl066850	journal	January 2016
Mercury's three‐dimensional asymmetric magnetopause Zhong, J.; Wan, W. X.; Slavin, J. A. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 120, Issue 9 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015ja021425	journal	September 2015
Properties of Hermean plasma belt: Numerical simulations and comparison with MESSENGER data Herčík, David; Trávníček, Pavel M.; Štverák, Štěpán Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 121, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015ja021938	journal	January 2016
Storm time current distribution in the inner equatorial magnetosphere: THEMIS observations: GLOBAL RING CURRENT Yang, Y. Y.; Shen, C.; Dunlop, M. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 121, Issue 6 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015ja022145	journal	June 2016
Spatial distribution of Mercury's flux ropes and reconnection fronts: MESSENGER observations: FRs and RFs at Mercury Sun, W. J.; Fu, S. Y.; Slavin, J. A. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 121, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1002/2016ja022787	journal	August 2016
The Magnetic Field Structure of Mercury's Magnetotail Rong, Z. J.; Ding, Y.; Slavin, J. A. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 123, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017JA024923	journal	January 2018
Solar Wind Plasma Interaction with Asteroid 16 Psyche: Implication for Formation Theories Fatemi, Shahab; Poppe, Andrew R. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 45, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1002/2017gl073980	journal	January 2018
The magnetospheric banana current: THE MAGNETOSPHERIC BANANA CURRENT Liemohn, Michael W.; Ganushkina, Natalia Yu.; Katus, Roxanne M. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1002/jgra.50153	journal	March 2013
Mercury's magnetopause and bow shock from MESSENGER Magnetometer observations: MERCURY'S MAGNETOPAUSE AND BOW SHOCK Winslow, Reka M.; Anderson, Brian J.; Johnson, Catherine L. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1002/jgra.50237	journal	May 2013
Energetic particle dynamics in Mercury's magnetosphere: ENERGETIC PARTICLES AT MERCURY Walsh, B. M.; Ryou, A. S.; Sibeck, D. G. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1002/jgra.50266	journal	May 2013
Investigating Mercury’s Environment with the Two-Spacecraft BepiColombo Mission Milillo, A.; Fujimoto, M.; Murakami, G. Space Science Reviews, Vol. 216, Issue 5 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-020-00712-8	journal	July 2020
BepiColombo - Mission Overview and Science Goals Benkhoff, J.; Murakami, G.; Baumjohann, W. Space Science Reviews, Vol. 217, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1007/s11214-021-00861-4	journal	December 2021
Dayside H+ circulation at Mercury and neutral particle emission Mura, A.; Orsini, S.; Milillo, A. Icarus, Vol. 175, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2004.12.010	journal	June 2005
Origin of Mercury’s double magnetopause: 3D hybrid simulation study with A.I.K.E.F. Müller, Joachim; Simon, Sven; Wang, Yung-Ching Icarus, Vol. 218, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.icarus.2011.12.028	journal	March 2012
On the impact of multiply charged heavy solar wind ions on the surface of Mercury, the Moon and Ceres Kallio, E.; Wurz, P.; Killen, R. Planetary and Space Science, Vol. 56, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2008.07.018	journal	October 2008
The dayside magnetospheric boundary layer at Mercury Anderson, Brian J.; Slavin, James A.; Korth, Haje Planetary and Space Science, Vol. 59, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2011.01.010	journal	December 2011
MESSENGER observations of the plasma environment near Mercury Raines, Jim M.; Slavin, James A.; Zurbuchen, Thomas H. Planetary and Space Science, Vol. 59, Issue 15 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2011.02.004	journal	December 2011
Cross-comparison of global simulation models applied to Mercury’s dayside magnetosphere Aizawa, S.; Griton, L. S.; Fatemi, S. Planetary and Space Science, Vol. 198 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pss.2021.105176	journal	April 2021
A feedback dynamo generating Mercury's magnetic field Glassmeier, Karl-Heinz; Auster, Hans-Ulrich; Motschmann, Uwe Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 34, Issue 22 https://doi.org/10.1029/2007gl031662	journal	January 2007
Formation of a sodium ring in Mercury's magnetosphere: FORMATION OF A SODIUM RING Yagi, M.; Seki, K.; Matsumoto, Y. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 115, Issue A10 https://doi.org/10.1029/2009ja015226	journal	October 2010
Quasi-trapped ion and electron populations at Mercury: QUASI-TRAPPED POPULATIONS AT MERCURY Schriver, David; Trávníček, Pavel M.; Anderson, Brian J. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 38, Issue 23 https://doi.org/10.1029/2011gl049629	journal	December 2011
MESSENGER orbital observations of large-amplitude Kelvin-Helmholtz waves at Mercury's magnetopause: KELVIN-HELMHOLTZ WAVES AT MERCURY Sundberg, Torbjörn; Boardsen, Scott A.; Slavin, James A. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 117, Issue A4 https://doi.org/10.1029/2011ja017268	journal	April 2012
Characteristics of the plasma distribution in Mercury's equatorial magnetosphere derived from MESSENGER Magnetometer observations: MERCURY PLASMA DISTRIBUTION Korth, Haje; Anderson, Brian J.; Johnson, Catherine L. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 117, Issue A12 https://doi.org/10.1029/2012ja018052	journal	December 2012
Distribution and compositional variations of plasma ions in Mercury's space environment: The first three Mercury years of MESSENGER observations: MERCURY ION COMPOSITION FROM MESSENGER Raines, Jim M.; Gershman, Daniel J.; Zurbuchen, Thomas H. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 118, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1029/2012ja018073	journal	April 2013
Time‐Dependent Hybrid Plasma Simulations of Lunar Electromagnetic Induction in the Solar Wind Fuqua Haviland, H.; Poppe, A. R.; Fatemi, S. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 46, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1029/2018gl080523	journal	April 2019
Global Ten‐Moment Multifluid Simulations of the Solar Wind Interaction with Mercury: From the Planetary Conducting Core to the Dynamic Magnetosphere Dong, Chuanfei; Wang, Liang; Hakim, Ammar Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 46, Issue 21 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019gl083180	journal	November 2019
Hybrid Simulations of Solar Wind Proton Precipitation to the Surface of Mercury Fatemi, S.; Poppe, A. R.; Barabash, S. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 125, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1029/2019ja027706	journal	April 2020
A Double Disturbed Lunar Plasma Wake Rasca, A. P.; Fatemi, S.; Farrell, W. M. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 126, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1029/2020ja028789	journal	January 2021
Model of the formation of the low-latitude boundary layer for strongly northward interplanetary magnetic field Song, P.; Russell, C. T. Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 97, Issue A2 https://doi.org/10.1029/91ja02377	journal	January 1992
Solar wind control of density and temperature in the near-Earth plasma sheet: WIND/GEOTAIL collaboration Terasawa, T.; Fujimoto, M.; Mukai, T. Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 24, Issue 8 https://doi.org/10.1029/96gl04018	journal	April 1997
Adiabatic charged-particle motion Northrop, Theodore G. Reviews of Geophysics, Vol. 1, Issue 3 https://doi.org/10.1029/rg001i003p00283	journal	January 1963
Transport of solar wind into Earth's magnetosphere through rolled-up Kelvin–Helmholtz vortices Hasegawa, H.; Fujimoto, M.; Phan, T. -D. Nature, Vol. 430, Issue 7001 https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02799	journal	August 2004
Dawn–dusk asymmetry in the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability at Mercury Paral, Jan; Rankin, Robert Nature Communications, Vol. 4, Issue 1 https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms2676	journal	April 2013
A modelling approach to infer the solar wind dynamic pressure from magnetic field observations inside Mercury’s magnetosphere Fatemi, S.; Poirier, N.; Holmström, M. Astronomy & Astrophysics, Vol. 614 https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201832764	journal	June 2018
Atmospheric escape from the TRAPPIST-1 planets and implications for habitability Dong, Chuanfei; Jin, Meng; Lingam, Manasvi Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Vol. 115, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1708010115	journal	December 2017
AMITIS: A 3D GPU-Based Hybrid-PIC Model for Space and Plasma Physics Fatemi, Shahab; Poppe, Andrew R.; Delory, Gregory T. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 837 https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/837/1/012017	journal	May 2017
Newtonian Development of the Dynamical Properties of Ionized Gases of Low Density Parker, E. N. Physical Review, Vol. 107, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.1103/physrev.107.924	journal	August 1957
Mercury's Magnetosphere After MESSENGER's First Flyby Slavin, J. A.; Acuna, M. H.; Anderson, B. J. Science, Vol. 321, Issue 5885 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1159040	journal	July 2008
Evidence from Numerical Experiments for a Feedback Dynamo Generating Mercury's Magnetic Field Heyner, D.; Wicht, J.; Gomez-Perez, N. Science, Vol. 334, Issue 6063 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1207290	journal	December 2011
The Global Magnetic Field of Mercury from MESSENGER Orbital Observations Anderson, B. J.; Johnson, C. L.; Korth, H. Science, Vol. 333, Issue 6051 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1211001	journal	September 2011
MESSENGER Observations of the Spatial Distribution of Planetary Ions Near Mercury Zurbuchen, T. H.; Raines, J. M.; Slavin, J. A. Science, Vol. 333, Issue 6051 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1211302	journal	September 2011
Magnetic Field Observations near Mercury: Preliminary Results from Mariner 10 Ness, N. F.; Behannon, K. W.; Lepping, R. P. Science, Vol. 185, Issue 4146 https://doi.org/10.1126/science.185.4146.151	journal	July 1974
Is Proxima Centauri b Habitable? A Study of Atmospheric Loss Dong, Chuanfei; Lingam, Manasvi; Ma, Yingjuan The Astrophysical Journal, Vol. 837, Issue 2 https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/aa6438	journal	March 2017
Morphology of the ring current derived from magnetic field observations Le, G.; Russell, C. T.; Takahashi, K. Annales Geophysicae, Vol. 22, Issue 4 https://doi.org/10.5194/angeo-22-1267-2004	journal	January 2004

Similar Records

Inner southern magnetosphere observation of Mercury via SERENA ion sensors in BepiColombo mission

Journal Article · 2022 · Nature Communications · OSTI ID:1905786

Orsini, Stefano; Milillo, Anna; Lichtenegger, H.; +89 more

MESSENGER Observations of Disappearing Dayside Magnetosphere Events at Mercury

Journal Article · 2019 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics · OSTI ID:1648114

Slavin, J. A.; Middleton, H. R.; Raines, J. M.; +12 more

A theoretical study of magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling processes

Thesis/Dissertation · 1990 · OSTI ID:7044575

Cao, Fei

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES

Title: An Eastward Current Encircling Mercury

Citation Formats

References (47)

Similar Records

Related Subjects