Physics Department Seminar | University of Alaska Fairbanks |
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J O U R N A L C L U B |
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Magnetic
Topology at Mars and Venus |
by |
Shaosui Xu |
University of California, Berkeley |
ABSTRACT The
Venus and Mars interactions with the solar wind
are often compared because both planets lack a substantial
intrinsic global magnetic field, and both have
CO2-dominated atmospheres thick enough to form an
ionosphere (ionized atmospheric layer). To first order,
their magnetospheres are mainly induced in nature, with
draped interplanetary magnetic fields (IMF) dominating
their topology. However, this simple picture can be
complicated by the magnetization of the ionosphere at
Venus and Mars’s localized crustal field magnetism. An
important property of these planet-solar wind interactions
is the magnetic field’s connectivity to the collisional
ionosphere/atmosphere, and possibly the planet surface.
This can provide insights into the induced magnetization
state of their ionospheres, the possible particle and
energy exchange between their ionospheres and the solar
wind, and the impact Mars’s crustal fields have on its
near space environment. Suprathermal (>1 eV) electrons
are easily magnetized and excellent tracers of magnetic
topology. In this talk, we describe the use of combined
electron energy and pitch angle distributions measured by
Venus Express and Mars Atmospheric Volatile and EvolutioN
(MAVEN) to infer magnetic topology at Venus and Mars,
respectively. The results highlight the contribution of
Mars’s crustal fields to its ‘hybrid’ magnetosphere, and
shed new light on Venus’s not-so-simple induced
magnetosphere. |
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Friday, 10 February 2023 |
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By Zoom only : https://zoom.us/j/796501820?pwd=R2xEcXNwZGVRbG0va29iN2REU241UT09 | |||
3:45PM |