Stationary flux ropes at the southern terminator of Mars

Beharrell, Mat and Wild, James (2012) Stationary flux ropes at the southern terminator of Mars. Journal of Geophysical Research, 117 (A12): A12212. ISSN 0148-0227

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Abstract

Flux ropes have long been observed in the upper atmosphere of Venus, and more recently at Mars. Here we present magnetic field measurements of flux ropes encountered at the southern terminator of Mars by Mars Global Surveyor, and compare them to a flux rope model. This allows several parameters of each rope to be inferred. Remarkably similar flux ropes are met repeatedly at the southern terminator over a period of the Martian year, when strong crustal magnetic fields are upstream of their position, indicating that they are most likely stationary and attached to the upstream crustal fields. A mechanism is described that could produce the observed flux ropes.

Item Type:
Journal Article
Journal or Publication Title:
Journal of Geophysical Research
Additional Information:
“Accepted for publication in Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics . Copyright 2012 American Geophysical Union. Further reproduction or electronic distribution is not permitted.”
Uncontrolled Keywords:
/dk/atira/pure/core/keywords/physics
Subjects:
?? marssolar windionospherephysicsearth and planetary sciences (miscellaneous)geophysicsatmospheric sciencespace and planetary scienceqc physics ??
ID Code:
59882
Deposited By:
Deposited On:
07 Nov 2012 14:16
Refereed?:
Yes
Published?:
Published
Last Modified:
09 Dec 2024 00:20