Bursty escape fluxes in plasma sheets of Mars and Venus
Authors:
- 11 January 2012
- journal article
- Published by American Geophysical Union (AGU) in Geophysical Research Letters
- Vol. 39 (1)
Abstract
High resolution measurements of plasma in the plasma sheets of Mars and Venus performed by almost identical plasma instruments ASPERA‐3 on the Mars Express spacecraft and ASPERA‐4 on Venus Express reveal similar features of bursty fluxes of escaping planetary ions. A period of bursts lasts about 1–2 min. Simultaneous magnetic field measurements on Venus Express show that these burst‐like features arise due to flapping motions of the plasma sheet. Their occurrence can be related to large‐amplitude waves propagating on the plasma sheet surface and launched by reconnection in the magnetic tails.Keywords
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