Intense energetic electron flux enhancements in Mercury's magnetosphere: An integrated view with high‐resolution observations from MESSENGER
| Autor: | Daniel N. Baker, Ralph L. McNutt, Haje Korth, George C. Ho, John O. Goldsten, James A. Slavin, Jim M. Raines, Brian J. Anderson, David J. Lawrence, Stamatios M. Krimigis, David Schriver, Patrick N. Peplowski, R. M. Dewey, Sean C. Solomon |
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| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Astrophysics::High Energy Astrophysical Phenomena Magnetosphere Astrophysics Electron 01 natural sciences Mercury magnetosphere substorms Planetary Sciences: Solar System Objects Planet Magnetospheric substorms 0103 physical sciences Planetary science Magnetospheric Physics 010303 astronomy & astrophysics Planetary Sciences: Solid Surface Planets Research Articles 0105 earth and related environmental sciences Physics Planets--Magnetospheres electron acceleration Spectrometer particle bursts Plasma sheet Astronomy Mercury Planetary Magnetospheres Solar wind Geophysics Space and Planetary Science Magnetospheres Temporal resolution Physics::Space Physics Astrophysics::Earth and Planetary Astrophysics Space environment Research Article |
| Zdroj: | Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics |
| ISSN: | 2169-9402 2169-9380 |
| Popis: | The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission to Mercury has provided a wealth of new data about energetic particle phenomena. With observations from MESSENGER's Energetic Particle Spectrometer, as well as data arising from energetic electrons recorded by the X‐Ray Spectrometer and Gamma‐Ray and Neutron Spectrometer (GRNS) instruments, recent work greatly extends our record of the acceleration, transport, and loss of energetic electrons at Mercury. The combined data sets include measurements from a few keV up to several hundred keV in electron kinetic energy and have permitted relatively good spatial and temporal resolution for many events. We focus here on the detailed nature of energetic electron bursts measured by the GRNS system, and we place these events in the context of solar wind and magnetospheric forcing at Mercury. Our examination of data at high temporal resolution (10 ms) during the period March 2013 through October 2014 supports strongly the view that energetic electrons are accelerated in the near‐tail region of Mercury's magnetosphere and are subsequently “injected” onto closed magnetic field lines on the planetary nightside. The electrons populate the plasma sheet and drift rapidly eastward toward the dawn and prenoon sectors, at times executing multiple complete drifts around the planet to form “quasi‐trapped” populations. Key Points Shows where energetic particles are accelerated at MercuryDemonstrates quasi‐trapping of energetic electronsAnswers decades‐old questions about Mercury substorms |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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