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Planetary Magnetospheres CLBE001-ESS2E November 9, 2006 17:4 100-C 25-C 50-C 75-C C+M 50-C+M C+Y 50-C+Y M+Y 50-M+Y 100-M 25-M 50-M 75-M 100-Y 25-Y 50-Y 75-Y 100-K 25-K 25-19-19 50-K 50-40-40 75-K 75-64-64 Planetary Magnetospheres Margaret Galland Kivelson University of California Los Angeles, California Fran Bagenal University of Colorado, Boulder Boulder, Colorado CHAPTER 28 1. What is a Magnetosphere? 5. Dynamics 2. Types of Magnetospheres 6. Interaction with Moons 3. Planetary Magnetic Fields 7. Conclusions 4. Magnetospheric Plasmas 1. What is a Magnetosphere? planet’s magnetic field. Moreover, unmagnetized planets in the flowing solar wind carve out cavities whose properties The term magnetosphere was coined by T. Gold in 1959 are sufficiently similar to those of true magnetospheres to al- to describe the region above the ionosphere in which the low us to include them in this discussion. Moons embedded magnetic field of the Earth controls the motions of charged in the flowing plasma of a planetary magnetosphere create particles. The magnetic field traps low-energy plasma and interaction regions resembling those that surround unmag- forms the Van Allen belts, torus-shaped regions in which netized planets. If a moon is sufficiently strongly magne- high-energy ions and electrons (tens of keV and higher) tized, it may carve out a true magnetosphere completely drift around the Earth. The control of charged particles by contained within the magnetosphere of the planet. the planetary magnetic field extends many Earth radii into Magnetospheric phenomena are of both theoretical and space but finally terminates near 10 Earth radii in the direc- phenomenological interest. Theory has benefited from the tion toward the Sun. At this distance, the magnetosphere data collected in the vast plasma laboratory of space in which is confined by a low-density, magnetized plasma called the different planetary environments provide the analogue of solar wind that flows radially outward from the Sun at su- different laboratory conditions. Furthermore, magneto- personic speeds. Qualitatively, a planetary magnetosphere spheric plasma interactions are important to diverse ele- is the volume of space from which the solar wind is excluded ments of planetary science. For example, plasma trapped by a planet’s magnetic field. (A schematic illustration of the in a planetary magnetic field can interact strongly with the terrestrial magnetosphere is given in Fig. 1, which shows planet’s atmosphere, heating the upper layers, generating how the solar wind is diverted around the magnetopause, a neutral winds, ionizing the neutral gases and affecting the surface that surrounds the volume containing the Earth, its ionospheric flow. Energetic ions and electrons that precipi- distorted magnetic field, and the plasma trapped within that tate into the atmosphere can modify atmospheric chemistry. field.) This qualitative definition is far from precise. Most Interaction with plasma particles can contribute to the iso- of the time, solar wind plasma is not totally excluded from topic fractionation of a planetary atmosphere over the life- the region that we call the magnetosphere. Some solar wind time of a planet. Impacts of energetic charged particles on plasma finds its way in and indeed many important dynam- the surfaces of planets and moons can modify surface prop- ical phenomena give clear evidence of intermittent direct erties, changing their albedos and spectral properties. The links between the solar wind and the plasmas governed by a motions of charged dust grains in a planet’s environment Encyclopedia of the Solar System 2e C 2007 by Academic Press. All rights of reproduction in any form reserved. 519 CLBE001-ESS2E November 9, 2006 17:4 520 Encyclopedia of the Solar System FIGURE 1 Schematic illustration of the Earth’s magnetosphere. The Earth’s magnetic field lines are shown as modified by the interaction with the solar wind. The solar wind, whose flow speed exceeds the speeds at which perturbations of the field and the plasma flow directions can propagate in the plasma, is incident from the left. The pressure exerted by the Earth’s magnetic field excludes the solar wind. The boundary of the magnetospheric cavity is called the magnetopause, its nose distance being RM . Sunward (upstream) of the magnetopause, a standing bow shock slows the incident flow, and the perturbed solar wind plasma between the bow shock and the magnetopause is called the magnetosheath. Antisunward (downstream) of the Earth, the magnetic field lines stretch out to form the magnetotail. In the northern portion of the magnetotail, field lines point generally sunward, while in the southern portion, the orientation reverses. These regions are referred to as the northern and southern lobes, and they are separated by a sheet of electrical current flowing generally dawn to dusk across the near-equatorial magnetotail in the plasmasheet. Low-energy plasma diffusing up from the ionosphere is found close to Earth in a region called the plasmasphere whose boundary is the plasmapause. The dots show the entry of magnetosheath plasma that originated in the solar wind into the magnetosphere, particularly in the polar cusp regions. Inset is a diagram showing the 3-dimensional structure of the Van Allen belts of energetic particles that are trapped in the magnetic field and drift around the Earth. [the New Solar System, (eds. Kelly Beatty et al.), CUP/Sky Publishing] Credit: Steve Bartlett; Inset: Don Davis. are subject to both electrodynamic and gravitational forces; Section 6 addresses the interactions of moons with plane- recent studies of dusty plasmas show that the former may tary plasmas. Section 7 concludes the chapter with remarks be critical in determining the role and behavior of dust in on plans for future space exploration. the solar nebula as well as in the present-day solar system. In Section 2, the different types of magnetospheres 2. Types of Magnetospheres and related interaction regions are introduced. Section 3 presents the properties of observed planetary magnetic 2.1 The Heliosphere fields and discusses the mechanisms that produce such fields. Section 4 reviews the properties of plasmas contained The solar system is dominated by the Sun, which forms its within magnetospheres, describing their distribution, their own magnetosphere referred to as the heliosphere.[See sources, and some of the currents that they carry. Section 5 The Sun.] The size and structure of the heliosphere are covers magnetospheric dynamics, both steady and “stormy.” governed by the motion of the Sun relative to the local CLBE001-ESS2E November 9, 2006 17:4 Planetary Magnetospheres 521 interstellar medium, the density of the interstellar plasma, of the field contained within a plasma relies on the idea and the pressure exerted on its surroundings by the outflow- that if the conductivity of a plasma is sufficiently large, the ing solar wind that originates in the solar corona. [See The magnetic field is frozen into the plasma and field lines can Solar Wind.] The corona is a highly ionized gas, so hot that be traced from their source by following the motion of the it can escape the Sun’s immense gravitational field and flow plasma to which it is frozen. Because the roots of the field outward at supersonic speeds. Through much of the helio- lines remain linked to the rotating sun (the sun rotates about sphere, the solar wind speed is not only supersonic but also its axis with a period of approximately 25 days), the field lines 1/2 much greater than the Alfven´ speed (vA = B/(μ0ρ) ), twist in the form of an Archimedean spiral as illustrated in the speed at which rotational perturbations of the magnetic Fig. 2. The outflow of the solar wind flow along the direction field propagate along the magnetic field in a magnetized of the Sun’s motion relative to the interstellar plasma is plasma. (Here B is the magnetic field magnitude, μ0 is the terminated by the forces exerted by the interstellar plasma. magnetic permeability of vacuum, and ρ is the mass density Elsewhere the flow is diverted within the boundary of the of the plasma.) heliosphere. Thus, the Sun and the solar wind are (largely) The solar wind is threaded by magnetic field lines that confined within the heliospheric cavity; the heliosphere is map back to the Sun. A useful and picturesque description the biggest of the solar system magnetospheres. Current sheet Earth 1 2 3 Photon (8 minutes) Parcel of 3 solar wind 1 plasma Beam of 2 (4 days) energetic particles FIGURE 2 The magnetic field of the Sun is carried by the solar wind away from the Sun and is wound into a spiral. The heliospheric current sheet (colored magenta in the inset 3-dimensional diagram) separates magnetic fields of opposite polarities and is warped into a “ballerina skirt” by combined effects of the Sun’s spin and the tilt of the magnetic field. The main diagram (2-dimensional projection) shows a cut through the heliosphere in the ecliptic plane. In the ecliptic plane, the radial flow of the solar wind and the rotation of the Sun combine to wind the solar magnetic field (yellow lines) into a spiral. A parcel of solar wind plasma (traveling radially at an average speed of 400 km/s) takes about 4 days to travel from the Sun to Earth’s orbit at 1 AU. The dots and magnetic field lines labeled 1, 2, and 3 represent snapshots during this journey. Energetic particles emitted from the Sun travel much faster (beamed along the magnetic field) reaching the Earth in minutes to hours. Traveling at the speed of light, solar photons reach the Earth in 8 minutes.
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