Observations of Mercury's magnetic field

This paper presents a study of magnetic field data obtained by Mariner 10 during the third and final encounter with the planet Mercury on 16 March 1975. A well developed bow shock and modest magnetosphere, previously observed at first encounter on 29 March 1974, were again observed. In addition, a much stronger magnetic field near closest approach, 400γ versus 98γ, was observed at an altitude of 327 km and approximately 68° north Mercurian latitude. Spherical harmonic analysis of the data provides an estimate of the centered planetary magnetic dipole of 5.0 × 10²² gauss-cm³ with the axis tilted 12° to the rotation axis and in the same sense as Earth's. The interplanetary field was sufficiently different between first and third encounters that in addition to the very large field magnitude observed it argues strongly against a complex induction process generating the observed planetary field. While a possibility exists that Mercury possesses a remanent field due to magnetization early in its formation, a present day active dynamo seems to be a more likely candidate for its origin. The existence of such a dynamo argues for a mature planetary interior with a well-developed core.     

The magnetic field in the Earth's tail

Detailed magnetic fields in the Earth's tail are calculated from a proposed model containing Beard's tail surface and a current sheet inferred from satellite observations. The component inside and perpendicular to the neutral sheet permits us to construct the drift pattern in the magnetic equatorial plane for charged particles. The computed results are in reasonable agreement with the experimental results, although some deviations are noted.     

Interpretation of magnetic field perturbations in the earth's magnetopause boundary layers

Studies of the boundary layers in the vicinity of the Earth's dayside magnetopause are important in determining the nature of the processes which couple the magnetosphere to the flowing solar wind, thereby driving magnetospheric convection. In this paper we examine theoretically the magnetic field and plasma properties expected in the boundary regions for various models involving either diffusion or reconnection at the boundary. For diffusion models the transport of magnetosheath momentum across the magnetopause will result in field shears on either side of the boundary, the field rotations being in opposite senses on either side relative to the undisturbed fields. The directions of these rotations depend upon location at the magnetopause relative to the momentum transfer region and to the noon meridian. In reconnection models the effect of the tension of the open boundary layer field lines must be taken into account in addition to the magnetosheath flow, but on the super-Alfvénic flanks of the magnetosphere the latter still dominates, so that qualitatively similar effects will occur in the two models. More detailed, quantitative or statistical studies are then required to distinguish the two models in this regime. In the sub-Alfvénic dayside region, however, open field tension effects will dominate in reconnection models such that boundary layer field and plasma properties will then be determined mainly by the magnetosheath magnetic field configuration. In particular the East-West flow in the magnetospheric boundary layer will be controlled largely by the East-West field in the magnetosheath, leading to flow reversals across the magnetopause in some quadrants of the magnetopause. This behaviour is directly related to the Svalgaard-Mansurov effect and is a signature unique to reconnection models. The boundary layer fields are also expected to tilt towards the field on the opposite side of the boundary in these models on the dayside. “Toward” tilting can also occur in this regime in diffusion models, but “away” tilting, a signature unique to dayside diffusion, should also occur equally frequently. Finally, we briefly discuss previously published high-resolution ISEE 1 and 2 data from the boundary regions in the light of our results. We find that “toward” tilting generally occurs in boundary region crossings previously identified as being reconnection-associated and we present some examples in which the above unique reconnection signature has been observed. During impulsive FTE-like events, however, the field may tilt in either direction, possibly as a result of field line twists, thus complicating our simple picture in this case. We also show that the “reverse draping” observations presented by Hones et al. (1982) approximately satisfy the open magnetopause stress balance conditions.     

The spontaneous magnetic field direction in an anisotropic MHD dynamo

The phenomenon of magnetic field generation in an astrophysical plasma in the frame of developed magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulence is considered. The functional quantum field renormalization group approach is applied to helical anisotropic MHD developed turbulence which is stabilized by the self-generated homogeneous magnetic field. The purpose of the study is to calculate the value as well as direction of the magnetic field in the stochastic dynamo model. The generated magnetic field is determined by ignoring divergent rotor part of Green function of the magnetic field. It is shown that the magnetic field direction is connected with unique existing vector n describing the anisotropic turbulence forcing.     

Long-period pulsations of the Earth's magnetic field with periods more than 20 minutes before proton flares on the sun

Long-period (more than 20 min) quasi-periodic pulsations (QPP) occurring in the Earth's magnetic field (EMF) before the proton flare are studied by the method of spectral correlation analysis of geomagnetic field H-component. The corresponding data have been obtained at six stations located from 12°41'E up to 180° 52'E and from 52°04'N up to 68°52'N.QPP space-time distribution is shown to be correlated with that of the Earth's ionosphere current systems. The results obtained indicate that QPP of the EMF are influenced by QPP of the solar X-ray and ultraviolet radiation modulated by oscillation processes in the active solar region.     

Determination of the electromagnetic field produced by a magnetic oblique-rotator

The structure of the corotating region, which forms an inner portion of a stellar magnetosphere, is reconsidered in a quasi-neutral case by taking into account the inertial effects of electrons as well as that of ions up to the first order in their mass ratio (δ=m_?/m₊). It is emphasized first that the magnetosphere is not globally equipotential even in the frame rotating with a central star (i.e. ?#0, where ? is the ‘non-Backus’ potential) due at least to the inertial effects of plasma particles. However, it is shown that the condition ?=0 is asymptotically recovered in the corotating region owing to the presence of the drift current which can be taken into account only when δ is not entirely neglected. This fact suggests that the deviation of the plasma motion in the outer magnetosphere from the corotation can be attributed to the non-zero ?. A globally self-consistent solution is obtained under this condition (?=0). In contrast with the solutions in the ‘force-free’ and the ‘mass-less-electron’ approximations, this solution has a disk structure in the corotation zone in which the plasma and the current density are concentrated to a thin disk near the magnetic equator. Owing to this sheet current in the disk the lines of force of the stellar magnetic field are modified to form a very elongated shape (the magnetodisk) if the plasma β-value is fairly large. Such a disk structure seems to be a common feature in the high β inner magnetospheres of various types of stars.     

Determination of the electromagnetic field produced by a magnetic oblique-rotator

The inertial effect on the structure of the magnetosphere of a rotating star is investigated, in the corotation approximation for a surrounding quasi-neutral plasma. The equation of motion reduces to a usual static balance equation between the electromagnetic and the centrifugal forces, in the rotating frame. However the MHD condition, which can be regarded as a special form of the generalized Ohm's law, is modified by the inclusion of inertial effect, with a violation of the frozen-in condition in case of a general (i.e., not restricted to corotation) plasma motion. The inertial effect on the electromagnetic field is summarized in a partial scalar potential named the non-Backus potential, which is proportional to the centrifugal potential in the corotation approximation.An approximate solution of this corotation problem is given, in which another characteristic radiusr _M appears besides the light radiusr _L . This radius defines a distance beyond which the inertial effect becomes dominant over the electromagnetic one, and is useful in estimating the magnitude of the terminal velocity of a centrifugal wind. A few examples of the modification of dipole magnetic field due to the inertial effect are visualized. In an oblique-rotation case, it can be seen that such a warp of the neutral sheet (the surface ofB _r =0) is reproduced as observed in the Jovian magnetosphere.     

Determination of the electromagnetic field produced by a magnetic oblique-rotator

Approximate solutions for the electromagnetic fields produced by a uniformly magnetized oblique rotator in vacuum are derived systematically in various regions by using general relativistic considerations. The results, which are expressed in compact vector notation, are compared with the component expression of Deutsch (1955) and Backus (1956). In our method, the potentials (, A) and fields (E, B) due to the rotating magnet are represented in terms of the vector potential for a rest magnet, with the proper correction for rotation. In doing this, the transformation laws for various quantities between the rest and rotating frames play important roles. The meaning of rotating magnetic field lines is also considered in connection with the apparent paradox in the gedanken-experiment of a unipolar inductor.     

Determination of the electromagnetic field produced by a magnetic oblique-rotator

The electromagnetic field produced by a magnetic dipole moment, , which is rotating obliquely surrounded by a corotating plasma sphere, is investigated. This corotating-plasma approximation has the same order of accuracy as the force-free one but has somewhat different physical implications. In the former the effect of non-electromagnetic forces such as the inertial force are included, though in somewhat artificial manner, as a departure from the strict MHD condition and this fact seems to guarantee the existence of physical solutions.Analogous to the relativistic force-free equation, a set of two differential equations (the corotation equation) are derived for the scalar functions associated with the electric and magnetic fields. A self-consistent solution of these equations is given and it is shown that this solution has no singularity, in spite of apparent divergence in the formal solution, on the light cylinder. It is concluded from this solution that, even in the extreme case of the largest possible corotation-radius (i.e.b=r _L , wherer _L is the light radius), the existence of a corotating plasma does not alter the field structure drastically from the vacuum case. It is also suggested through this treatment that inclusion of the inertial term in generalized Ohm's law might be essential in considering the centrifugal-wind problem.     

Semi-annual modulation of earth's magnetic field in the equatorial electrojet region

Autospectra in the 2–13 month range, computed from mean monthly horizontal intensity on quiet days at Trivandrum, situated close to the dip equator, suggest an exceedingly large semi-annual modulation of the field confined to an interval of about 5 hr centred at 1000 LT. The amplitude of the semi-annual oscillation at this station, derived from power density, is greater than 19 γ at 1000 LT. Between 1900 and 0500 LT, spectral lines, corresponding to a period of six months, are not observed above the continuum. Spectral densities from observations at two other electrojet stations in India, Kodaikanal and Annamalainagar, and at Alibag, outside the electrojet, establish the existence of an appreciable enhancement of the semi-annual oscillation of the field in the equatorial electrojet belt. Similar computations of spectra using observations on all days, however, suggest a secondary component in the evening sector. This component is not enhanced in the equatorial electrojet belt. It is concluded that while in low latitudes the daytime component is largely associated with the modulation of Sq currents, in the electrojet belt it appears to be due entirely to a semi-annual modulation of the equatorial electrojet. It is also concluded that the secondary component, observed in the evening sector in low latitude and equatorial stations, is associated purely with the modulation of the ring current by disturbance. The two components of the semi-annual variation observed at the Indian stations have also been noticed at several stations between geomagnetic latitudes N54.6° and S41.8°. It is also observed that the association of the semi-annual component with geomagnetic latitude is confined to the evening-night component.     

Mercury’s magnetospheric magnetic field after the first two MESSENGER flybys

The “paraboloid” model of Mercury’s magnetospheric magnetic field is used to determine the best-fit magnetospheric current system and internal dipole parameters from magnetic field measurements taken during the first and second MESSENGER flybys of Mercury on 14 January and 6 October 2008. Together with magnetic field measurements taken during the Mariner 10 flybys on 29 March 1974 and 16 March 1975, there exist three low-latitude traversals separated in longitude and one high-latitude encounter. From our model formulation and fitting procedure a Mercury dipole moment of 196 nT ·  (where R_M is Mercury’s radius) was determined. The dipole is offset from Mercury’s center by 405 km in the northward direction. The dipole inclination to Mercury’s rotation axis is relatively small, ∼4°, with an eastern longitude of 193° for the dipole northern pole. Our model is based on the a priori assumption that the dipole position and the moment orientation and strength do not change in time. The root mean square (rms) deviation between the Mariner 10 and MESSENGER magnetic field measurements and the predictions of our model for all four flybys is 10.7 nT. For each magnetic field component the rms residual is ∼6 nT or about 1.5% of the maximum measured magnetic field, ∼400 nT. This level of agreement is possible only because the magnetospheric current system parameters have been determined separately for each flyby. The magnetospheric stand-off distance, the distance from the planet’s center to the inner edge of the tail current sheet, the tail lobe magnetic flux, and the displacement of the tail current sheet relative to the Mercury solar-magnetospheric equatorial plane have been determined independently for each flyby. The magnetic flux in the tail lobes varied from 3.8 to 5.9 MWb; the subsolar magnetopause stand-off distance from 1.28 to 1.43 R_M; and the distance to the inner edge of the current sheet from 1.23 to 1.32 R_M. The differences in the current systems between the first and second MESSENGER flybys are attributed to the effects of strong magnetic reconnection driven by southward interplanetary magnetic field during the latter flyby.     

The moon’s permanent magnetic field: a cratered-shell model

As part of our study of the larger-scale remanent magnetic field of the Moon, we have examined the effects of cratering in an otherwise spherically symmetrical shell magnetized by a concentric dipolar magnetic fieldH _o to an intensity of magnetizationc H _o, wherec is a constant. In our initial model, we assume that the material excavated from the craters is distributed with random orientation and thus does not contribute to the remanent dipole momentM _g . We further assume that the mare fill does not contribute significantly toM _g . We choose the magnetizing dipole momentM _o and the constantc such that the magnitude of the productcH _o ≃ 3 × 10⁻⁴Г at the outer surface of the shell in the equatorial plane of the dipole. This value of the intensity of remanent magnetization was chosen to be within the range 10⁻⁷−10⁻³Г’; the intensities of thermo-remanent magnetization exhibited by Apollo samples. Finally, we use the locations and diameters of the 10 largest craters on the Moon and the depth-to-diameter ratios of Pike’s formulation to model approximately the excavation of the magnetized shell. The remanent dipole momentM _g was calculated for each of three orthogonal orientations of the magnetizing dipoleM _o. The three magnitudes ofM _g fall in the range 4 × 10¹⁸−1 × 10¹⁹Г cm³ which is close to the upper limit of 10¹⁹Г cm³ estimated forM _g from the field measurements obtained with the Apollo subsatellites. Further, the distribution of the craters is such as to produce a significant transverse component ofM _g with acute angles between the spin axis andM _g in the range 51°–77°.     

Mid-infrared polarisation and inferred magnetic field direction toward YSOs with outflow

The position angle of mid-infrared polarisation can be directly related to the magnetic field direction projected onto the plane of the sky. Such observations, from both ground and space-based platforms, have been used to investigate the relation between the magnetic field and other “symmetry axes” associated with embedded young stars, such as the interstellar magnetic field, bipolar outflow and disk/toroid axes. Interpretation of the results in terms of hydromagnetic driving mechanisms of bipolar outflow is discussed.     

Dependence of the amount of open magnetic flux on the direction of the interplanetary magnetic field

The power generated by the solar wind—magnetosphere dynamo is proportional to the amount of the open magnetic flux Φ. It is difficult to use this fact in determining observationally the dependence of Φ on the orientation of the interplanetary magnetic field vector. It is shown that, for a simple vacuum superposition of the earth's dipole field and a uniform magnetic field, Φ is very closely proportional to sin θ/2) for a wide range of the intensity of the uniform field, where θ denotes the polar angle of the interplanetary magnetic field vector in the Y-Z plane of solar-magnetospheric coordinates.     

Jupiter's outer atmosphere

The current state of the theory of Jupiter's outer atmosphere is briefly reviewed. The similarities and dissimilarities between the terrestrial and Jovian upper atmospheres are discussed, including the interaction of the solar wind with the planetary magnetic fields. Estimates of Jovian parameters are given, including magnetosphere and auroral zone sizes, ionospheric conductivity, energy inputs, and solar wind parameters at Jupiter. The influence of the large centrifugal force on the cold plasma distribution is considered. The Jovian Van Alien belt is attributed to solar wind particles diffused in towards the planet by dynamo electric fields from ionospheric neutral winds and consequences of this theory are given.     

The Moon's zonal tidal effect in the variation of the earth's spin rate

Using the time observations obtained by 8 instruments in the Chinese Joint System during the years 1966–1980, we analyse the Moon's zonal tidal effect. The results show that the effects of the M_f and M_m waves are obvious. From this, the parameters $\text{K}\text{C}$ of the zonal tide are estimated and the weighted averages of the 8 instruments are $\text{(}\text{K}\text{C}\text{)}\text{M}{}_{\mathrm{f}}\text{= 0.909 ± 0.114}\text{and}\text{(}\text{K}\text{C}\text{)}\text{M}{}_{\mathrm{m}}\text{= 0.905 ± 0.083}$ respectively.     

Bagby's phantom moonlets

The suggestion, made some years ago, that the Earth has several natural moonlets appears to be groundless.