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Effects of the interior conductivity on Mercury's field-aligned currents
Key Laboratory of Planetary Science and Frontier Technology, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Umeå University, Faculty of Science and Technology, Department of Physics.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-9450-6672
Key Laboratory of Planetary Science and Frontier Technology, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Mohe Observatory of Geophysics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
Key Laboratory of Planetary Science and Frontier Technology, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; College of Earth and Planetary Sciences, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China; Mohe Observatory of Geophysics, Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
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2025 (English)In: Icarus, ISSN 0019-1035, E-ISSN 1090-2643, Vol. 438, article id 116633Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

Mercury lacks an (significant) ionosphere, leading to the hypothesis that its large-scale field-aligned currents (FACs) are instead closed through its highly conductive core. Mercury's interior is usually characterized by a two-layer model: a resistive outer layer (the crust and mantle) and a conductive inner layer (the iron-rich core). While this model is widely used, the effects of Mercury's conductivity and core on FACs have not been extensively explored. Therefore, we conducted analytical calculations combined with hybrid-kinetic simulations to study these effects. We found that the total currents of FACs are enhanced by ∼2 times when a conducting core is included, and the current density is directly proportional to the outer layer's conductivity. Combining our analysis with previous observations, the conductivity of the outer layer is estimated to be ∼5.4×10−7−1.1×10−6S/m. Our study suggests that future observations of Mercury's FACs will better constrain Mercury's conductivity profile.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Elsevier, 2025. Vol. 438, article id 116633
Keywords [en]
Conducting core, Conductivity, Field-aligned current, Magnetosphere, Mercury
National Category
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-239119DOI: 10.1016/j.icarus.2025.116633Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-105004915400OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-239119DiVA, id: diva2:1961605
Funder
Swedish National Space Board, 2022-00183Available from: 2025-05-27 Created: 2025-05-27 Last updated: 2025-05-27Bibliographically approved

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Fatemi, Shahab

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