Dr Gina DiBraccio from NASA Goddard Space Flight Centre will be presenting a virtual seminar titled: “Unraveling the Mysteries of the Martian Magnetotail”. The seminar will be held over Microsoft Teams (here) at 14:00 on Wednesday 17th of February 2021. Please see below for her talk abstract.
Abstract: The Martian magnetotail is a lively environment, exhibiting a unique structure of its own while manifesting dynamics that are identified in both intrinsic and induced planetary magnetospheres. Comprehensive particle and field measurements provided by the MAVEN spacecraft have elucidated characteristics of the Mars tail on both local and global scales. The complexity of this magnetotail is owed to the combination of the presence of planetary crustal magnetic fields, scattered across the planet, and the direct interaction of the solar wind with the planetary ionosphere and upper atmosphere. For this reason, the magnetotail hosts a menagerie of magnetic field topologies and plasmas of both planetary and solar wind origin. MAVEN observations have revealed that this combination of intrinsic and induced sources at Mars results in a ‘hybrid’ magnetosphere. Tail dynamics range from flux-rope formation and the occurrence of magnetic reconnection, similar to Earth’s magnetotail, to particle acceleration due to forces exerted by the draped interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), similar to Venus. On the global scale, the Martian magnetotail displays a twisted structure that responds to changes in the upstream IMF orientation. This feature of the tail reveals clues about the solar wind-planetary interaction and dependencies on factors exclusive to the Martian environment; however, similarities are also drawn to what has been observed at Earth. As MAVEN continues to observe the Martian magnetosphere, we dive deeper into the factors driving this magnetotail twist in order to better understand the innerworkings of this hybrid environment.
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