SM14B-07
An Overview of the Induced Magnetospheres of Mars and Venus from a Modeling Standpoint
Monday, 14 December 2015: 17:20
2009 (Moscone West)
Yingjuan Ma, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, Christopher T Russell, University of California Los Angeles, IGPP/EPSS, Los Angeles, CA, United States and Andrew F Nagy, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, MI, United States
Abstract:
Both Mars and Venus have substantial atmospheres but lack appreciable internal magnetic fields. The solar wind plasma interacts in a much more direct way with the neutral atmosphere and ionosphere systems of the two planets as compared with typical interactions around strongly magnetized obstacles. In spite of the differences in their size, atmospheric thickness, existence of localized crustal field, EUV strength and solar wind flow conditions, the perturbations that generated in the upstream plasma of Mars and Venus show remarkable similarities due to the common physical processes that dominate. Induced magnetospheres are formed around both planets due to mass loading of the shocked solar wind plasma. In this presentation, we will discuss the common features as well as major differences of the induced magnetospheres around the two planets from the modeling standpoint. We will also compare the response time of the two induced magnetospheres to typical variations in the solar wind at Mars and Venus based on time-dependent model results.
