The Astrophysical Journal Supplement Series (Jan 2023)

Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections and Stream Interaction Regions Observed by Tianwen-1 and MAVEN at Mars

  • Yutian Chi,
  • Chenglong Shen,
  • Long Cheng,
  • Bingkun Yu,
  • Bin Miao,
  • Yuming Wang,
  • Tielong Zhang,
  • Zhuxuan Zou,
  • Mengjiao Xu,
  • Zonghao Pan,
  • Zhenpeng Su,
  • Jingnan Guo,
  • Dongwei Mao,
  • Zhihui Zhong,
  • Zhiyong Zhang,
  • Junyan Liu,
  • Can Wang,
  • Zhiyong Wu,
  • Guoqiang Wang,
  • Sudong Xiao,
  • Kai Liu,
  • Xinjun Hao,
  • Yiren Li,
  • Manming Chen,
  • Yang Du

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4365/acd191
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 267, no. 1
p. 3

Abstract

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The Tianwen-1 spacecraft is China's first Mars exploration mission. The Mars Orbiter Magnetometer (MOMAG) is a scientific instrument on board the Tianwen-1 mission that is designed to study magnetic fields at Mars, including the solar wind to the magnetosheath and the ionosphere. Using the first Tianwen-1/MOMAG data that is publicly available, we present an interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) and stream interaction region (SIR) list based on in situ observations at Mars between 2021 November 16 and 2021 December 31. We compared the magnetic field intensity and vector magnetic field measurements from Tianwen-1/MOMAG and Mars Atmospheric Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN)/Magnetometer (MAG) during the ICME and SIR interval and found a generally good consistency between them. Due to MAVEN's orbital adjustment since 2019, the Tianwen-1/MOMAG instrument is almost unique in its status as an interplanetary magnetic field monitor currently at Mars. The observations indicate that the MOMAG instrument on Tianwen-1 is performing well and can provide accurate measurements of the vector magnetic field in the near-Mars solar wind space. The multipoint observations combining MOMAG, MINPA, and MEPA on board Tianwen-1 with MAG, SWIA, and STATIC on board MAVEN will help develop systematic studies of the characteristics of ICMEs and SIRs at Mars, and their influences on the Martian atmosphere and ionosphere.

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