The Astrophysical Journal Letters (Jan 2023)
Unusual Martian Foreshock Waves Triggered by a Solar Wind Stream Interaction Region
- Zhenpeng Su,
- Yuming Wang,
- Tielong Zhang,
- Zhiyong Wu,
- Long Cheng,
- Zhuxuan Zou,
- Chenglong Shen,
- Jingnan Guo,
- Sudong Xiao,
- Guoqiang Wang,
- Zonghao Pan,
- Kai Liu,
- Xinjun Hao,
- Yiren Li,
- Manming Chen,
- Yutian Chi,
- Mengjiao Xu
Affiliations
- Zhenpeng Su
- ORCiD
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; [email protected], [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China
- Yuming Wang
- ORCiD
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; [email protected], [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China
- Tielong Zhang
- Institute of Space Science and Applied Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen 518000, People's Republic of China; Space Research Institute , Austrian Academy of Sciences, A-8042 Graz, Austria
- Zhiyong Wu
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; [email protected], [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China
- Long Cheng
- ORCiD
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; [email protected], [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China
- Zhuxuan Zou
- ORCiD
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; [email protected], [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China
- Chenglong Shen
- ORCiD
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; [email protected], [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China
- Jingnan Guo
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; [email protected], [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China
- Sudong Xiao
- Institute of Space Science and Applied Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen 518000, People's Republic of China
- Guoqiang Wang
- ORCiD
- Institute of Space Science and Applied Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology , Shenzhen 518000, People's Republic of China
- Zonghao Pan
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; [email protected], [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China
- Kai Liu
- ORCiD
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; [email protected], [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China
- Xinjun Hao
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; [email protected], [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China
- Yiren Li
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; [email protected], [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China
- Manming Chen
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; [email protected], [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China
- Yutian Chi
- ORCiD
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; [email protected], [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China
- Mengjiao Xu
- ORCiD
- Deep Space Exploration Laboratory/School of Earth and Space Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China ; [email protected], [email protected]; CAS Center for Excellence in Comparative Planetology/CAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment/Mengcheng National Geophysical Observatory, University of Science and Technology of China , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China; Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology , Hefei 230026, People's Republic of China
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/accb9f
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 947,
no. 2
p. L33
Abstract
Planetary bow shocks noncollisionally dissipate the incident bulk flow energy of solar wind into some other forms. To what extent and how solar wind disturbances affect the energy dissipation processes at the bow shocks on different planets remain unclear. With the Chinese Tianwen-1 and American Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN missions, we present the first observation of significant modifications by a solar wind stream interaction region to the Martian foreshock waves, which are an important energy dissipation product of the bow shock. After the stream interface hitting Mars, an unusual band of foreshock waves emerged, with a central frequency of ∼0.4 Hz and frequency width of ∼0.2 Hz. These waves exhibited highly distorted waveforms, with peak-to-peak amplitudes of 10–25 nT in contrast to a background magnetic field of 6–9 nT. They were approximately elliptically polarized with respect to the wavevector and propagated highly obliquely to the background magnetic field. These waves reported here differed greatly from the commonly known Martian foreshock “30 s waves” and “1 Hz waves,” but resembled, to some extent, the less frequently occurring terrestrial foreshock “3 s waves.” Our present findings may imply an unexpected energy dissipation pattern of the Martian bow shock to the disturbed solar wind, which needs further observational, theoretical, and numerical investigations.
Keywords
- Planetary bow shocks
- Solar-planetary interactions
- Corotating streams
- Space weather
- Space plasmas
- Plasma physics