Direct evidence of substorm-related impulsive injections of electrons at Mercury.

ABSTRACT: Mercury's magnetosphere is known to involve fundamental processes releasing particles and energy like at Earth due to the solar wind interaction. The resulting cycle is however much faster and involves acceleration, transport, loss, and recycling of plasma. Direct experimental evidence for the roles of electrons during this cycle is however missing. Here we show that in-situ plasma observations obtained during BepiColombo's first Mercury flyby reveal a compressed magnetosphere hosts of quasi-periodic fluctuations, including the original observation of dynamic phenomena in the post-midnight, southern magnetosphere. The energy-time dispersed electron enhancements support the occurrence of substorm-related, multiple, impulsive injections of electrons that ultimately precipitate onto its surfa

SUBMITTER: Aizawa S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10354196 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature