Detection of magnetospheric ion drift patterns at Mars

Chi Zhang; Hans Nilsson; Yusuke Ebihara; Masatoshi Yamauchi; Moa Persson; Zhaojin Rong; Jun Zhong; Chuanfei Dong; Yuxi Chen; Xuzhi Zhou; Yixin Sun; Yuki Harada; Jasper Halekas; Shaosui Xu; Yoshifumi Futaana; Zhen Shi; Chongjing Yuan; Xiaotong Yun; Song Fu; Jiawei Gao; Mats Holmström; Yong Wei; Stas Barabash

doi:10.1038/s41467-023-42630-7

Detection of magnetospheric ion drift patterns at Mars

Nat Commun. 2023 Oct 27;14(1):6866. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-42630-7.

Authors

Chi Zhang^{1

2

3}, Hans Nilsson⁴, Yusuke Ebihara⁵, Masatoshi Yamauchi⁴, Moa Persson⁶, Zhaojin Rong^{7

8}, Jun Zhong^{1

2}, Chuanfei Dong³, Yuxi Chen³, Xuzhi Zhou⁹, Yixin Sun⁹, Yuki Harada¹⁰, Jasper Halekas¹¹, Shaosui Xu¹², Yoshifumi Futaana⁴, Zhen Shi^{1

2}, Chongjing Yuan^{1

2}, Xiaotong Yun¹³, Song Fu¹³, Jiawei Gao^{1

2}, Mats Holmström⁴, Yong Wei^{14

15}, Stas Barabash⁴

Affiliations

¹ Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
² College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
³ Center for Space Physics and Department of Astronomy, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA.
⁴ Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Kiruna, Sweden.
⁵ Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere, Kyoto University, Uji, Japan.
⁶ Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Kashiwa, Japan.
⁷ Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. rongzhaojin@mail.iggcas.ac.cn.
⁸ College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. rongzhaojin@mail.iggcas.ac.cn.
⁹ School of Earth and Space Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
¹⁰ Department of Geophysics, Graduate School of Science, Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan.
¹¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, USA.
¹² Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA.
¹³ Department of Space Physics, School of Electronic Information, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
¹⁴ Key Laboratory of Earth and Planetary Physics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. weiy@mail.iggcas.ac.cn.
¹⁵ College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China. weiy@mail.iggcas.ac.cn.

Abstract

Mars lacks a global magnetic field, and instead possesses small-scale crustal magnetic fields, making its magnetic environment fundamentally different from intrinsic magnetospheres like those of Earth or Saturn. Here we report the discovery of magnetospheric ion drift patterns, typical of intrinsic magnetospheres, at Mars using measurements from Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission. Specifically, we observe wedge-like dispersion structures of hydrogen ions exhibiting butterfly-shaped distributions (pitch angle peaks at 22.5°-45° and 135°-157.5°) within the Martian crustal fields, a feature previously observed only in planetary-scale intrinsic magnetospheres. These dispersed structures are the results of drift motions that fundamentally resemble those observed in intrinsic magnetospheres. Our findings indicate that the Martian magnetosphere embodies an intermediate case where both the unmagnetized and magnetized ion behaviors could be observed because of the wide range of strengths and spatial scales of the crustal magnetic fields around Mars.

Grants and funding

41922031, 41774188/National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China)