Nonlinear spatiotemporal signatures of whistler-mode wave activity around Mercury during six flybys of BepiColombo mission.

ABSTRACT: Cyclotron resonance between electromagnetic waves and plasmas may be a universal acceleration phenomenon of charged particles in magnetized planets. Coherent fine structures of whistler-mode waves serve as a signature of nonlinear resonance. However, the fine wave structures at Mercury have remained unknown due to limited spacecraft observations. Here we show that plasma wave observations by the third BepiColombo mission Mercury flyby (2023) have identified discrete whistler-mode emission waves similar to those observed in Earth's magnetosphere. The frequency sweep rates of Mercury's wave chirping tones correspond to those at Earth, based on the scaling law for planetary magnetospheric size. Furthermore, although the spatial coverage on the dayside and dusk sectors is insufficient, the spa

SUBMITTER: Ozaki M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12783828 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature