The Twisted Configuration of the Martian Magnetotail: MAVEN Observations

Measurements provided by the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft are analyzed to investigate the Martian magnetotail configuration as a function of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) BY. We find that the magnetotail lobes exhibit a ~45deg twist, either clockwise or countercloc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical research letters Vol. 45; no. 10; pp. 4559 - 4568
Main Authors: DiBraccio, Gina A., Luhmann, Janet G., Curry, Shannon M., Espley, Jared R., Xu, Shaosui, Mitchell, David L., Ma, Yingjuan, Dong, Chuanfei, Gruesbeck, Jacob R., Connerney, John E. P., Harada, Yuki, Ruhunusiri, Suranga, Halekas, Jasper S., Soobiah, Yasir, Hara, Takuya, Brain, David A., Jakosky, Bruce M.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Goddard Space Flight Center American Geophysical Union 28.05.2018
John Wiley & Sons, Inc
Subjects:
Aerosols
Atmospheric evolution
Computational fluid dynamics
Computer simulation
Configurations
Earth
Fluid flow
Geometry
Interplanetary magnetic field
Investigations
Lobes
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Magnetic field
magnetic field topology
Magnetic fields
Magnetic reconnection
Magnetohydrodynamic simulation
Magnetotails
Mars
Mars atmosphere
Mars crustal magnetic fields
Mars environment
Mars magnetotail configuration
Mars missions
Mars spacecraft
MAVEN data
Planetary magnetic fields
Planets
Rotation
solar wind‐Mars interaction
Spacecraft
Venus
Configuration
Magnetotail
Martian
ISSN:0094-8276, 1944-8007
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Summary:Measurements provided by the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft are analyzed to investigate the Martian magnetotail configuration as a function of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) BY. We find that the magnetotail lobes exhibit a ~45deg twist, either clockwise or counterclockwise from the ecliptic plane, up to a few Mars radii downstream. Moreover, the associated cross-tail current sheet is rotated away from the expected location for a Venus-like induced magnetotail based on nominal IMF draping. Data-model comparisons using magnetohydrodynamic simulations are in good agreement with the observed tail twist. Model field line tracings indicate that a majority of the twisted tail lobes are composed of open field lines, surrounded by draped IMF. We infer that dayside magnetic reconnection between the crustal fields and draped IMF creates these open fields and may be responsible for the twisted tail configuration, similar to what is observed at Earth.
Bibliography:E-ISSN: 1944-8007
GSFC
GSFC-E-DAA-TN60525
ISSN: 0094-8276
Goddard Space Flight Center
Report Number: GSFC-E-DAA-TN60525
ObjectType-Article-1
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-2
content type line 14
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/2018gl077251