The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) mission to Mercury offers our first opportunity
to explore this planet’s miniature magnetosphere since the brief flybys of Mariner 10. Mercury’s magnetosphere is unique in
many respects. The magnetosphere of Mercury is among the smallest in the solar system; its magnetic field typically stands
off the solar wind only ∼1000 to 2000 km above the surface. For this reason there are no closed drift paths for energetic
particles and, hence, no radiation belts. Magnetic reconnection at the dayside magnetopause may erode the subsolar magnetosphere,
allowing solar wind ions to impact directly the regolith. Inductive currents in Mercury’s interior may act to modify the solar
wind interaction by resisting changes due to solar wind pressure variations. Indeed, observations of these induction effects
may be an important source of information on the state of Mercury’s interior. In addition, Mercury’s magnetosphere is the
only one with its defining magnetic flux tubes rooted beneath the solid surface as opposed to an atmosphere with a conductive
ionospheric layer. This lack of an ionosphere is probably the underlying reason for the brevity of the very intense, but short-lived,
∼1–2 min, substorm-like energetic particle events observed by Mariner 10 during its first traversal of Mercury’s magnetic
tail. Because of Mercury’s proximity to the sun, 0.3–0.5 AU, this magnetosphere experiences the most extreme driving forces
in the solar system. All of these factors are expected to produce complicated interactions involving the exchange and recycling
of neutrals and ions among the solar wind, magnetosphere, and regolith. The electrodynamics of Mercury’s magnetosphere are
expected to be equally complex, with strong forcing by the solar wind, magnetic reconnection, and pick-up of planetary ions
all playing roles in the generation of field-aligned electric currents. However, these field-aligned currents do not close
in an ionosphere, but in some other manner. In addition to the insights into magnetospheric physics offered by study of the
solar wind–Mercury system, quantitative specification of the “external” magnetic field generated by magnetospheric currents
is necessary for accurate determination of the strength and multi-polar decomposition of Mercury’s intrinsic magnetic field.
MESSENGER’s highly capable instrumentation and broad orbital coverage will greatly advance our understanding of both the origin
of Mercury’s magnetic field and the acceleration of charged particles in small magnetospheres. In this article, we review
what is known about Mercury’s magnetosphere and describe the MESSENGER science team’s strategy for obtaining answers to the
outstanding science questions surrounding the interaction of the solar wind with Mercury and its small, but dynamic, magnetosphere. 相似文献
The concentrator on Genesis provided samples of increased fluences of solar wind ions for precise determination of the oxygen
isotopic composition. The concentration process caused mass fractionation as a function of the radial target position. This
fractionation was measured using Ne released by UV laser ablation and compared with modelled Ne data, obtained from ion-trajectory
simulations. Measured data show that the concentrator performed as expected and indicate a radially symmetric concentration
process. Measured concentration factors are up to ∼30 at the target centre. The total range of isotopic fractionation along
the target radius is 3.8%/amu, with monotonically decreasing 20Ne/22Ne towards the centre, which differs from model predictions. We discuss potential reasons and propose future attempts to overcome
these disagreements. 相似文献
It is widely accepted that diffusive shock acceleration is an important process in the heliosphere, in particular in producing
the energetic particles associated with interplanetary shocks driven by coronal mass ejections. In its simplest formulation
shock acceleration is expected to accelerate ions with higher mass to charge ratios less efficiently than those with lower
mass to charge. Thus it is anticipated that the Fe/O ratio in shock-accelerated ion populations will decrease with increasing
energy above some energy. We examine the circumstances of five interplanetary shocks that have been reported to have associated
populations in which Fe/O increases with increasing energy. In each event, the situation is complex, with particle contributions
from other sources in addition to the shock. Furthermore, we show that the Fe/O ratio in shock-accelerated ions can decrease
even when the shock is traveling through an Fe-rich ambient ion population. Thus, although shock acceleration of an Fe-rich
suprathermal population has been proposed to explain large Fe-rich solar particle events, we find no support for this proposal
in these observations. 相似文献
The dynamical and chemical effects of the Galactic Wind are discussed. This wind is primarily driven by the pressure gradient
of the Cosmic Rays. Assuming the latter to be accelerated in the Supernova Remnants of the disk which at the same time produce
the Hot Interstellar Medium, it is argued that the gas removed by the wind is enriched in the nucleosynthesis products of
Supernova explosions. Therefore the moderate mass loss through this wind should still be able to remove a substantial amount
of metals, opening the way for stars to produce more metals than observed in the disk, by e.g. assuming a Salpeter-type stellar
initial mass function beyond a few Solar masses. The wind also allows a global, physically appealing interpretation of Cosmic
Ray propagation and escape from the Galaxy. In addition the spiral structure of the disk induces periodic pressure waves in
the expanding wind that become a sawtooth shock wave train at large distances which can re-accelerate “knee” particles coming
from the disk sources. This new Galactic Cosmic Ray component can reach energies of a few×1018 eV and may contribute to the juncture between the particles of Galactic and extragalactic origin in the observed overall
Cosmic Ray spectrum. 相似文献
In May of 2011, NASA selected the Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security–Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REx) asteroid sample return mission as the third mission in the New Frontiers program. The other two New Frontiers missions are New Horizons, which explored Pluto during a flyby in July 2015 and is on its way for a flyby of Kuiper Belt object 2014 MU69 on January 1, 2019, and Juno, an orbiting mission that is studying the origin, evolution, and internal structure of Jupiter. The spacecraft departed for near-Earth asteroid (101955) Bennu aboard an United Launch Alliance Atlas V 411 evolved expendable launch vehicle at 7:05 p.m. EDT on September 8, 2016, on a seven-year journey to return samples from Bennu. The spacecraft is on an outbound-cruise trajectory that will result in a rendezvous with Bennu in November 2018. The science instruments on the spacecraft will survey Bennu to measure its physical, geological, and chemical properties, and the team will use these data to select a site on the surface to collect at least 60 g of asteroid regolith. The team will also analyze the remote-sensing data to perform a detailed study of the sample site for context, assess Bennu’s resource potential, refine estimates of its impact probability with Earth, and provide ground-truth data for the extensive astronomical data set collected on this asteroid. The spacecraft will leave Bennu in 2021 and return the sample to the Utah Test and Training Range (UTTR) on September 24, 2023.
Both heliophysics and planetary physics seek to understand the complex nature of the solar wind’s interaction with solar system obstacles like Earth’s magnetosphere, the ionospheres of Venus and Mars, and comets. Studies with this objective are frequently conducted with the help of single or multipoint in situ electromagnetic field and particle observations, guided by the predictions of both local and global numerical simulations, and placed in context by observations from far and extreme ultraviolet (FUV, EUV), hard X-ray, and energetic neutral atom imagers (ENA). Each proposed interaction mechanism (e.g., steady or transient magnetic reconnection, local or global magnetic reconnection, ion pick-up, or the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability) generates diagnostic plasma density structures. The significance of each mechanism to the overall interaction (as measured in terms of atmospheric/ionospheric loss at comets, Venus, and Mars or global magnetospheric/ionospheric convection at Earth) remains to be determined but can be evaluated on the basis of how often the density signatures that it generates are observed as a function of solar wind conditions. This paper reviews efforts to image the diagnostic plasma density structures in the soft (low energy, 0.1–2.0 keV) X-rays produced when high charge state solar wind ions exchange electrons with the exospheric neutrals surrounding solar system obstacles.The introduction notes that theory, local, and global simulations predict the characteristics of plasma boundaries such the bow shock and magnetopause (including location, density gradient, and motion) and regions such as the magnetosheath (including density and width) as a function of location, solar wind conditions, and the particular mechanism operating. In situ measurements confirm the existence of time- and spatial-dependent plasma density structures like the bow shock, magnetosheath, and magnetopause/ionopause at Venus, Mars, comets, and the Earth. However, in situ measurements rarely suffice to determine the global extent of these density structures or their global variation as a function of solar wind conditions, except in the form of empirical studies based on observations from many different times and solar wind conditions. Remote sensing observations provide global information about auroral ovals (FUV and hard X-ray), the terrestrial plasmasphere (EUV), and the terrestrial ring current (ENA). ENA instruments with low energy thresholds (\(\sim1~\mbox{keV}\)) have recently been used to obtain important information concerning the magnetosheaths of Venus, Mars, and the Earth. Recent technological developments make these magnetosheaths valuable potential targets for high-cadence wide-field-of-view soft X-ray imagers.Section 2 describes proposed dayside interaction mechanisms, including reconnection, the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, and other processes in greater detail with an emphasis on the plasma density structures that they generate. It focuses upon the questions that remain as yet unanswered, such as the significance of each proposed interaction mode, which can be determined from its occurrence pattern as a function of location and solar wind conditions. Section 3 outlines the physics underlying the charge exchange generation of soft X-rays. Section 4 lists the background sources (helium focusing cone, planetary, and cosmic) of soft X-rays from which the charge exchange emissions generated by solar wind exchange must be distinguished. With the help of simulations employing state-of-the-art magnetohydrodynamic models for the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction, models for Earth’s exosphere, and knowledge concerning these background emissions, Sect. 5 demonstrates that boundaries and regions such as the bow shock, magnetosheath, magnetopause, and cusps can readily be identified in images of charge exchange emissions. Section 6 reviews observations by (generally narrow) field of view (FOV) astrophysical telescopes that confirm the presence of these emissions at the intensities predicted by the simulations. Section 7 describes the design of a notional wide FOV “lobster-eye” telescope capable of imaging the global interactions and shows how it might be used to extract information concerning the global interaction of the solar wind with solar system obstacles. The conclusion outlines prospects for missions employing such wide FOV imagers. 相似文献
Recently much attention has been focused on the transient behavior of the magnetopause in response to pressure pulses and southward fluctuations of the interplanetary magnetic field. We examine the motion of the magnetopause behind the foreshock and conclude that this motion is affected by foreshock pressure variations but not by fluctuations in the direction of the magnetic field. Neither magnetopause erosion nor flux transfer event occurrence is controlled by the foreshock. On the contrary, flux transfer events occur at times of steady IMF and thier quasi-periodic behavior is controlled by the magnetopause or the magnetosphere and is not driven by the external boundary conditions. Since flux transfer events are clearly due to reconnection, this observation implies that the IMF must be southward some time perhaps as long as 7 minutes before flux transfer begins. 相似文献
The experiment was flown in different locations inside BIORACK on the D1 mission. It contained different plastic detectors (cellulose nitrate, Lexan, and CR 39) and emulsions to measure the high LET components of the radiation environment. For low LET measurements thermoluminescence dosimeters (L iF) were used. The paper gives data about total dose, charge, energy, and LET spectra so far obtained. These data are compared with data of previous spaceflights. 相似文献
The influence of cosmic radiation and/or microgravity on insect development was studied during the 7 day German Spacelab Mission D1. Eggs of Carausius morosus of five stages differing in sensitivity to radiation and in capacity to regeneration were allowed to continue their development in the BIORACK 22°C incubator, either at microgravity conditions or on the 1 g reference centrifuge. Using the Biostack concept - eggs in monolayers were sandwiched between visual track detectors - and the 1 g reference centrifuge, we were able to separate radiation effects from microgravity effects and also from combined effects of these two factors in space. After retrieval, hatching rates, growth kinetics and anomaly frequencies were determined in the different test samples. The early stages of development turned out to be highly sensitive to single hits of cosmic ray particles as well as to the temporary exposure to microgravity during their development. In some cases, the combined action of radiation and microgravity even amplified the effects exerted by the single parameters of space. Hits by single HZE particles caused early effects, such as body anomalies, as well as late effects, such as retarded growth after hatching. Microgravity exposure lead to a reduced hatching rate. A synergistic action of HZE particle hits and microgravity was established in the unexpectedly high frequency of anomal larvae. However, it cannot be excluded, that cosmic background radiation or low LET HZE particles are also causally involved in damage observed in the microgravity samples. 相似文献
Space Science Reviews - Analysis of Homestake, Gallex and GNO measurements reveals evidence of variability of presumed solar-neutrino-flux measurements. Analysis of Super-Kamiokande neutrino... 相似文献