A Comparative Study of Magnetic Flux Ropes in the Nightside Induced Magnetosphere of Mars and Venus

• Published in: Journal of geophysical research. Space physics 2022-01, Vol.127 (1), p.n/a
• Main Authors: Hara, Takuya, Huang, Zesen, Mitchell, David L., DiBraccio, Gina A., Brain, David A., Harada, Yuki, Luhmann, Janet G.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Comparative studies; Electric fields; Fluctuations; Flux rope; Geographical distribution; Magnetic fields; Magnetic flux; Magnetic studies; magnetosphere; magnetotail; Magnetotail reconnection; Magnetotails; Mars; Mars atmosphere; Mars missions; Planetary magnetic fields; Planetary magnetospheres; Planets; Solar wind; Solar wind electric fields; Southern Hemisphere; Spatial distribution; Variance analysis; Venus; Venus atmosphere; Venus Express (ESA)
• ISSN: 2169-9380; 2169-9402
• DOI: 10.1029/2021JA029867

We analyzed Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) and Venus Express (VEX) data of magnetic flux ropes observed in both Mars and Venus nightside induced magnetosphere, in order to understand their statistical characteristics and possible formation processes. We statistically identified 382 (286) events at Mars (Venus) via the minimum variance analysis and investigated the flux rope properties including their geometrical configurations of axial core field direction and spatial distributions. Interestingly, there is no significant difference with respect to the variety of the flux rope axial orientation between Mars and Venus, indicating that about at least one fourth of events do not necessitate magnetotail reconnection for their formations. However, the spatial distribution shows that flux ropes at Venus tend to be observed near the central plasma sheet, whereas those at Mars are more spread out. Moreover, the events tend to be observed more frequently in the −E hemisphere, where the solar wind electric field (ESW) is pointing toward the planet, rather than in +E hemisphere, where the ESW direction is away from the planet. The geographical distribution shows that flux ropes at Mars tend to be observed more frequently in the southern hemisphere where the strong crustal magnetic fields are primarily distributed. Therefore, such a tendency indicates that the Martian crustal magnetic fields could play significant roles on generating flux ropes in the nightside magnetosphere of Mars. Key Points We statistically investigated how to create flux ropes in the nightside magnetosphere of Mars and Venus We found the similar variety of the flux ropes axial orientation between Mars and Venus Flux ropes in Mars magnetotail concentrate above the strong crustal magnetic field region