Journal article
Estimation of the spatial structure of a detached magnetic flux rope at Mars based on simultaneous MAVEN plasma and magnetic field observations
Geophysical research letters, Vol.42(21), pp.8933-8941
11/16/2015
DOI: 10.1002/2015GL065720
Abstract
Simultaneous Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission (MAVEN) plasma and magnetic field observations reveal a detached magnetic flux rope in the Martian induced magnetosphere. The flux rope was identified by an increase in the magnetic field amplitude accompanied by smooth vector rotations. In addition, MAVEN observed a pronounced ion composition change across the structure, with solar wind ions dominating outside and planetary ions dominating within. Grad-Shafranov reconstruction is applied to determine the two-dimensional spatial structure of the flux rope. The event occurred near the dusk terminator, downstream from strong crustal magnetic fields. One possibility is that the flux rope was created by magnetic reconnection associated with interplanetary and/or crustal magnetic fields. A weak interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) arrived at Mars a few hours before the event. A pressure pulse and turbulent magnetic fields due to the ICME might be responsible for driving magnetic reconnection to detach the flux rope from the crustal source.
Details
- Title: Subtitle
- Estimation of the spatial structure of a detached magnetic flux rope at Mars based on simultaneous MAVEN plasma and magnetic field observations
- Creators
- Takuya Hara - University of California, BerkeleyDavid L. Mitchell - Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, California, Berkeley, USAJames P. McFadden - University of California, BerkeleyKanako Seki - Nagoya UniversityDavid A. Brain - University of Colorado BoulderJasper S. Halekas - University of IowaYuki Harada - University of California, BerkeleyJared R. Espley - Goddard Space Flight CenterGina A. DiBraccio - Goddard Space Flight CenterJohn E. P. Connerney - Goddard Space Flight CenterLailla Andersson - University of Colorado BoulderChristian Mazelle - Research Institute in Astrophysics and PlanetologyBruce M. Jakosky - University of Colorado Boulder
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Publication Details
- Geophysical research letters, Vol.42(21), pp.8933-8941
- Publisher
- Blackwell Publishing Ltd
- DOI
- 10.1002/2015GL065720
- ISSN
- 0094-8276
- eISSN
- 1944-8007
- Number of pages
- 9
- Language
- English
- Date published
- 11/16/2015
- Academic Unit
- Physics and Astronomy
- Record Identifier
- 9984428774602771
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