Modeling the impact of a strong X-class solar flare on the planetary ion composition in Mercury's magnestosphere |
Auteur | WERNER Elisabeth |
Institution | LATMOS |
Theme | Theme1 |
| Auteur(s) supplémentaire(s) | F. Leblanc (1), J-Y. Chaufray (1), R. Modolo (1), S. Aizawa (3), L. Hadid (4), C. Baskevitch (1) |
| Institution(s) supplémentaire(s) | (1) LATMOS (2) Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala, Sweden (3) IRAP (4) LPP |
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Abstract | Solar flares could potentially give rise to sudden changes in the planetary ion composition in Mercury's magnetosphere. We model the time-dependent evolution of the Mg+, Na+, O+ and He+ ion density distribution during the extreme X9.3-class solar flare event on 6 September 2017 with the Latmos Ionized Exosphere (LIZE) model. We find
that the peak ion density in the nightside plasma sheet is delayed by $\sim 7-8$ min compared to the dayside, and that the maximum Mg+ density occurs $\sim 4$ min before He+ and O+ in the whole magnetosphere. We also find that there exist two ion energy populations on the dayside which experience different dynamical evolution during the event. |
