Exploring the response of Mercury’s Magnetosheath to extreme solar wind

The goal of this project is to make significant progress in the understanding of how the plasma environment of the inner most planet of the Solar system – Mercury, interacts with the variable solar wind and the eruptive solar events.

This research will utilize measurements from the first dual-spacecraft mission BepiColombo to be placed in orbit of Mercury.

The spacecraft is equipped with state-of-the-art instrumentation (with Swedish participation) which will measure for the first time high resolution electromagnetic field and 3D particle distributions. The planned research will be carried out by a PhD student for four years of studies.

In the first study the magnetic field measurements of a unique interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) encounter with Mercury will be analyzed and the responses of the magnetosphere from the different parts of the ICME will be compared.

The first ever simultaneous investigation of the effects of fast and slow wind on Mercury’s day-side magnetosphere will be performed in the second study. The third study consist of the first simultaneous observation of the impact of ICME on Mercury’s magnetosphere.

The comprehensive analysis of these events incorporates a variety of advanced methods which will allow an unprecedentedly deep insight into the physical processes governing the interaction of the solar wind with a planetary body, relevant also to other stellar systems hosting rocky exoplanets.