Flux Transfer Event Showers at Mercury: Dependence on Plasma β and Magnetic Shear and Their Contribution to the Dungey Cycle

W. J. Sun; J. A. Slavin; A. W. Smith; R. M. Dewey; G. K. Poh; X. Jia; J. M. Raines; S. Livi; Y. Saito; D. J. Gershman; G. A. DiBraccio; S. M. Imber; J. P. Guo; S. Y. Fu; Qiu-Gang Zong; J. T. Zhao

doi:10.1029/2020GL089784

Flux Transfer Event Showers at Mercury: Dependence on Plasma β and Magnetic Shear and Their Contribution to the Dungey Cycle

W. J. Sun^*, J. A. Slavin, A. W. Smith, R. M. Dewey, G. K. Poh, X. Jia, J. M. Raines, S. Livi, Y. Saito, D. J. Gershman, G. A. DiBraccio, S. M. Imber, J. P. Guo, S. Y. Fu, Qiu-Gang Zong, J. T. Zhao

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

Mercury's flux transfer event (FTE) showers are dayside magnetopause crossings accompanied by large numbers (≥10) of magnetic flux ropes (FRs). These shower events are common, occurring during 52% (1,953/3,748) of the analyzed crossings. Shower events are observed with magnetic shear angles (θ) from 0° to 180° across the magnetopause and magnetosheath plasma β from 0.1 to 10 but are most prevalent for high θ and low plasma β. Individual FR duration correlates positively, while spacing correlates negatively, with θ and plasma β. FR flux content and core magnetic field intensity correlate negatively with plasma β, but they do not correlate with θ. During shower intervals, FRs carry 60% to 85% of the magnetic flux required to supply Mercury's Dungey cycle. The FTE showers and the large amount of magnetic flux carried by the FTE-type FRs appear quite different from observations at Earth and other planetary magnetospheres visited thus far.

Original language	English
Article number	e2020GL089784
Number of pages	11
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	47
Issue number	21
Early online date	5 Nov 2020
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL089784
Publication status	Published - 16 Nov 2020
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Dungey Cycle
Flux Transfer Events
Flux Transport
Magnetic Shear Angle
Plasma Beta

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10.1029/2020GL089784

Geophysical Research Letters - 2020 - Sun - Flux Transfer Event Showers at Mercury Dependence on Plasma and MagneticFinal published version, 2.62 MB

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Sun, W. J., Slavin, J. A., Smith, A. W., Dewey, R. M., Poh, G. K., Jia, X., Raines, J. M., Livi, S., Saito, Y., Gershman, D. J., DiBraccio, G. A., Imber, S. M., Guo, J. P., Fu, S. Y., Zong, Q.-G., & Zhao, J. T. (2020). Flux Transfer Event Showers at Mercury: Dependence on Plasma β and Magnetic Shear and Their Contribution to the Dungey Cycle. Geophysical Research Letters, 47(21), Article e2020GL089784. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL089784

@article{ba9586a045a54331ad20d78fe9643871,

title = "Flux Transfer Event Showers at Mercury: Dependence on Plasma β and Magnetic Shear and Their Contribution to the Dungey Cycle",

abstract = "Mercury's flux transfer event (FTE) showers are dayside magnetopause crossings accompanied by large numbers (≥10) of magnetic flux ropes (FRs). These shower events are common, occurring during 52% (1,953/3,748) of the analyzed crossings. Shower events are observed with magnetic shear angles (θ) from 0° to 180° across the magnetopause and magnetosheath plasma β from 0.1 to 10 but are most prevalent for high θ and low plasma β. Individual FR duration correlates positively, while spacing correlates negatively, with θ and plasma β. FR flux content and core magnetic field intensity correlate negatively with plasma β, but they do not correlate with θ. During shower intervals, FRs carry 60% to 85% of the magnetic flux required to supply Mercury's Dungey cycle. The FTE showers and the large amount of magnetic flux carried by the FTE-type FRs appear quite different from observations at Earth and other planetary magnetospheres visited thus far.",

keywords = "Dungey Cycle, Flux Transfer Events, Flux Transport, Magnetic Shear Angle, Plasma Beta",

author = "Sun, {W. J.} and Slavin, {J. A.} and Smith, {A. W.} and Dewey, {R. M.} and Poh, {G. K.} and X. Jia and Raines, {J. M.} and S. Livi and Y. Saito and Gershman, {D. J.} and DiBraccio, {G. A.} and Imber, {S. M.} and Guo, {J. P.} and Fu, {S. Y.} and Qiu-Gang Zong and Zhao, {J. T.}",

note = "Funding Information: MESSENGER data used in this study were available from the Planetary Data System (PDS; http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov ). The MESSENGER project was supported by the NASA Discovery Program under contracts NASW‐00002 to the Carnegie Institution of Washington and NAS5‐97271 to The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. W. J. S. and J. A. S. were supported by NASA grants NNX16AJ67G and 80NSSC18K1137. A. W. S. was supported by STFC consolidated grant ST/S000240/1 and NERC grant NE/P017150/1. R. M. D. was supported by NASA's Earth and Space Science Fellowship Program (80NSSC17K0493). The magnetopause crossings along with local coordinates are available in the table named “DaysideMagnetopause_List.txt” in the supporting information .",

year = "2020",

month = nov,

day = "16",

doi = "10.1029/2020GL089784",

language = "English",

volume = "47",

journal = "Geophysical Research Letters",

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publisher = "American Geophysical Union",

number = "21",

}

Sun, WJ, Slavin, JA, Smith, AW, Dewey, RM, Poh, GK, Jia, X, Raines, JM, Livi, S, Saito, Y, Gershman, DJ, DiBraccio, GA, Imber, SM, Guo, JP, Fu, SY, Zong, Q-G & Zhao, JT 2020, 'Flux Transfer Event Showers at Mercury: Dependence on Plasma β and Magnetic Shear and Their Contribution to the Dungey Cycle', Geophysical Research Letters, vol. 47, no. 21, e2020GL089784. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL089784

TY - JOUR

T1 - Flux Transfer Event Showers at Mercury

T2 - Dependence on Plasma β and Magnetic Shear and Their Contribution to the Dungey Cycle

AU - Sun, W. J.

AU - Slavin, J. A.

AU - Smith, A. W.

AU - Dewey, R. M.

AU - Poh, G. K.

AU - Jia, X.

AU - Raines, J. M.

AU - Livi, S.

AU - Saito, Y.

AU - Gershman, D. J.

AU - DiBraccio, G. A.

AU - Imber, S. M.

AU - Guo, J. P.

AU - Fu, S. Y.

AU - Zong, Qiu-Gang

AU - Zhao, J. T.

N1 - Funding Information: MESSENGER data used in this study were available from the Planetary Data System (PDS; http://pds.jpl.nasa.gov ). The MESSENGER project was supported by the NASA Discovery Program under contracts NASW‐00002 to the Carnegie Institution of Washington and NAS5‐97271 to The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory. W. J. S. and J. A. S. were supported by NASA grants NNX16AJ67G and 80NSSC18K1137. A. W. S. was supported by STFC consolidated grant ST/S000240/1 and NERC grant NE/P017150/1. R. M. D. was supported by NASA's Earth and Space Science Fellowship Program (80NSSC17K0493). The magnetopause crossings along with local coordinates are available in the table named “DaysideMagnetopause_List.txt” in the supporting information .

PY - 2020/11/16

Y1 - 2020/11/16

N2 - Mercury's flux transfer event (FTE) showers are dayside magnetopause crossings accompanied by large numbers (≥10) of magnetic flux ropes (FRs). These shower events are common, occurring during 52% (1,953/3,748) of the analyzed crossings. Shower events are observed with magnetic shear angles (θ) from 0° to 180° across the magnetopause and magnetosheath plasma β from 0.1 to 10 but are most prevalent for high θ and low plasma β. Individual FR duration correlates positively, while spacing correlates negatively, with θ and plasma β. FR flux content and core magnetic field intensity correlate negatively with plasma β, but they do not correlate with θ. During shower intervals, FRs carry 60% to 85% of the magnetic flux required to supply Mercury's Dungey cycle. The FTE showers and the large amount of magnetic flux carried by the FTE-type FRs appear quite different from observations at Earth and other planetary magnetospheres visited thus far.

AB - Mercury's flux transfer event (FTE) showers are dayside magnetopause crossings accompanied by large numbers (≥10) of magnetic flux ropes (FRs). These shower events are common, occurring during 52% (1,953/3,748) of the analyzed crossings. Shower events are observed with magnetic shear angles (θ) from 0° to 180° across the magnetopause and magnetosheath plasma β from 0.1 to 10 but are most prevalent for high θ and low plasma β. Individual FR duration correlates positively, while spacing correlates negatively, with θ and plasma β. FR flux content and core magnetic field intensity correlate negatively with plasma β, but they do not correlate with θ. During shower intervals, FRs carry 60% to 85% of the magnetic flux required to supply Mercury's Dungey cycle. The FTE showers and the large amount of magnetic flux carried by the FTE-type FRs appear quite different from observations at Earth and other planetary magnetospheres visited thus far.

KW - Dungey Cycle

KW - Flux Transfer Events

KW - Flux Transport

KW - Magnetic Shear Angle

KW - Plasma Beta

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U2 - 10.1029/2020GL089784

DO - 10.1029/2020GL089784

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85095931749

SN - 0094-8276

VL - 47

JO - Geophysical Research Letters

JF - Geophysical Research Letters

IS - 21

M1 - e2020GL089784

ER -

Flux Transfer Event Showers at Mercury: Dependence on Plasma β and Magnetic Shear and Their Contribution to the Dungey Cycle

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Keywords

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