We found a match
Your institution may have access to this item. Find your institution then sign in to continue.
- Title
Closed magnetic topology in the Venusian magnetotail and ion escape at Venus.
- Authors
Xu, Shaosui; Mitchell, David L.; Whittlesey, Phyllis; Rahmati, Ali; Livi, Roberto; Larson, Davin; Luhmann, Janet G.; Halekas, Jasper S.; Hara, Takuya; McFadden, James P.; Pulupa, Marc; Bale, Stuart D.; Curry, Shannon M.; Persson, Moa
- Abstract
Venus, lacking an intrinsic global dipole magnetic field, serves as a textbook example of an induced magnetosphere, formed by interplanetary magnetic fields (IMF) enveloping the planet. Yet, various aspects of its magnetospheric dynamics and planetary ion outflows are complex and not well understood. Here we analyze plasma and magnetic field data acquired during the fourth Venus flyby of the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission and show evidence for closed topology in the nightside and downstream portion of the Venus magnetosphere (i.e., the magnetotail). The formation of the closed topology involves magnetic reconnection—a process rarely observed at non-magnetized planets. In addition, our study provides an evidence linking the cold Venusian ion flow in the magnetotail directly to magnetic connectivity to the ionosphere, akin to observations at Mars. These findings not only help the understanding of the complex ion flow patterns at Venus but also suggest that magnetic topology is one piece of key information for resolving ion escape mechanisms and thus the atmospheric evolution across various planetary environments and exoplanets. Magnetic reconnection dynamics in Venus' magnetosphere are not well-known due to limited observations. Here, the authors show direct evidence for closed magnetic topology in Venus' magnetotail and a link between the cold ion flow in the magnetotail and its direct magnetic connectivity to the ionosphere.
- Subjects
INTERPLANETARY magnetic fields; VENUS (Planet); MAGNETIC reconnection; MAGNETIC dipoles; COMPLEX ions
- Publication
Nature Communications, 2024, Vol 15, Issue 1, p1
- ISSN
2041-1723
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1038/s41467-024-50480-0