Excess of Sodium Ions Density Required to Create a Wide Current at the Hermean Magnetopauseстатья
Информация о цитировании статьи получена из
Web of Science,
Scopus
Статья опубликована в журнале из списка Web of Science и/или Scopus
Дата последнего поиска статьи во внешних источниках: 8 декабря 2021 г.
Аннотация:The time-dependent sodium exosphere surrounds Mercury. The sodium exosphere of Mercury depends on solar radiation and solar wind plasma, as well as on micrometeoroids flux. Different ionization processes lead to the creation of Na+ ions inside and outside the Hermean magnetosphere. Mercury’s exosphere was formed due to thermal and impactvaporization, photon-stimulated and electron-stimulated desorption, ion sputtering, andinteraction with the solar wind [1–3]. All these processes are interconnected and affect each other. Interaction with the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) for Mercury is very strong, as it is located close to the Sun and possesses a global weak magnetic field; thus, reconnection occurs almost constantly (e.g., [4]). Potter and Morgan [5] found that the emissions of sodium and potassium at high latitudes are more intense and that sodium is more prevalent in the exosphere of Mercury than potassium. Some sodium excess was observed also at the subsolar region [2]. The picked-up sodium ions are accelerated in the magnetosheath due to the interaction with the disturbed solar wind; they partially return inside the magnetosphere [6]. These energetic heavy ions are a source of hot Na+ inside the magnetosphere [7]. Here we consider different cases when sodiumions prevail outside or inside the magnetosphere and when the Bz interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) component is northward or southward. We consider the possibility of the generation of sodium ion diamagnetic current at the Hermean magnetopause dependent on these conditions.