Magnetotails in the Solar System

All magnetized planets in our solar system (Mercury, Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) interact strongly with the solar wind and possess well developed magnetotails. It is not only the strongly magnetized planets that have magnetotails. Mars and Venus have no global intrinsic magnetic field, yet they possess induced magnetotails. Comets have magnetotails that are formed by the draping of the interplanetary magnetic field. In the case of planetary  satellites (moons), the magnetotail refers to the wake region behind the satellite in the flow of either the solar wind or the magnetosphere of its parent planet. The largest magnetotail of all in our solar  system  is  the  heliotail,  the  “magnetotail” of  the heliosphere. The variety of solar wind conditions, planetary rotation rates, ionospheric conductivity, and physical dimensions provide an outstanding opportunity to extend our understanding of the influence of these factors on magnetotail processes and structures.  Volume highlights include:  Discussion on why a magnetotail is a fundamental problem of magnetospheric physics Unique collection of tutorials on a large range of magnetotails in our solar system In-depth reviews comparing magnetotail processes at Earth with other magnetotail structures found throughout the heliosphere Collectively, Magnetotails in the Solar System brings together for the first time in one book a collection of tutorials and current developments addressing different types of magnetotails. As a result, this book should appeal to a broad community of space scientists, and it should also be of interest to astronomers who are looking at tail-like structures beyond our solar system.

Contributors vii Preface Andreas Keiling, Caitríona Jackman, and Peter Delamereix Section I: Introduction 1 Magnetotail: Unsolved Fundamental Problem of Magnetospheric Physics Vytenis M Vasyliūnas 3 Section II: Tutorials 2 Mercury’s Magnetotail T Sundberg and J A Slavin 23 3 Magnetotails of Mars and Venus E Dubinin and M Fraenz 43 4 Earth’s Magnetotail Robert L McPherron 61 5 Jupiter’s Magnetotail Norbert Krupp , Elena Kronberg , and Aikaterini Radioti 85 6 Saturn’s Magnetotail Caitríona M Jackman 99 7 Magnetotails of Uranus and Neptune C S Arridge 119 8 Satellite Magnetotails Xianzhe Jia 135 9 Moon’s Plasma Wake J S Halekas, D A Brain and M Holmström 149 10 Physics of Cometary Magnetospheres Tamas I Gombosi 169 11 Heliotail David J McComas 189 Section III: Specialized Topics 12 Formation of Magnetotails: Fast and Slow Rotators Compared D J Southwood 199 13 Solar Wind Interaction with Giant Magnetospheres and Earth’s Magnetosphere P A Delamere 217 14 Solar Wind Entry Into and Transport Within Planetary Magnetotails Simon Wing and Jay R Johnson 235 15 Magnetic Reconnection in Different Environments: Similarities and Differences Michael Hesse, Nicolas Aunai, Masha Kuznetsova, Seiji Zenitani, and Joachim Birn 259 16 Origin and Evolution of Plasmoids and Flux Ropes in the Magnetotails of Earth and Mars J P Eastwood and S A Kiehas 269 17 Current Sheets Formation in Planetary Magnetotail Antonius Otto, Min-Shiu Hsieh, and Fred Hall IV 289 18 Substorms: Plasma and Magnetic Flux Transport from Magnetic Tail into Magnetosphere Gerhard Haerendel 307 19 Injection, Interchange, and Reconnection: Energetic Particle Observations in Saturn’s Magnetosphere D G Mitchell, P C Brandt, J F Carbary, W S Kurth, S M Krimigis, C Paranicas, Norbert Krupp, D C Hamilton, B H Mauk, G B Hospodarsky, M K Dougherty, and W R Pryor 327 20 Radiation Belt Electron Acceleration and Role of Magnetotail Geoffrey D Reeves 345 21 Substorm Current Wedge at Earth and Mercury L Kepko, K-H Glassmeier, J A Slavin, and T Sundberg 361 22 Review of Global Simulation Studies of Effect of Ionospheric Outflow on Magnetosphere-Ionosphere System Dynamics M Wiltberger 373 Index 393