Auroras – the solar system's universal light show (except Neptune... sorry, Neptune)
Scientists have found that the fundamental mechanism behind the spectacular light shows of auroras on Earth are universal throughout the solar system.
Using data from space probe BepiColombo's first flyby of Mercury, the researchers have shown the processes creating auroras on the planet closest to the Sun are shared with those scientists understand on Earth. Although earlier observations had shown Mercury's magnetosphere interacts with solar wind similarly to that on Earth, the processes are much faster and experimental evidence for the roles of electrons during this cycle was missing.
Auroras, like the aurora borealis seen in Earth's northern hemisphere, are caused by an interaction between the planet's magnetic field and the solar wind of charged particles which are"injected" into it from space., BepiColombo took a seven-year trip around the solar system, dropping by Mercury on the way, where it measured the magnetic field, magnetosphere, and both interior and surface structure.
A team led by Sae Aizawa, a post-doctoral researcher at France's Research Institute in Astrophysics and Planetology, have analyzed measurements of low-energy electrons of less than 30 kiloelectron volts and ions during the BepiColombo mission's first flyby of Mercury in October 2021.
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