Parker Solar Probe observations of the first three Venus flybys: foreshocks, shocks and particle acceleration
Abstract
In order to study the solar corona, the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) mission will fly closer to the Sun than any spacecraft by performing seven gravity assists at Venus. These gravity assists provide a rare opportunity to study the induced magnetosphere and solar-wind interaction at Venus with the instrumentation aboard PSP. Using data from the Fields experiment (FIELDS) and the Solar Wind Electrons Alphas and Protons Investigation (SWEAP), we will present plasma and field observations from the first three PSP Venus flybys, including the highest resolution in-situ electric field observations to ever have been measured at Venus. The geometry of the first two Venus gravity assists was aligned along the quasi-parallel edge of the shock, while the third flyby crossed the induced magnetotail, providing a series of measurements that help determine the shape parameters and real time response of the shock to the upstream solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field. We will present foreshock observations and shock crossings from the different orbital geometries and compare those to Venus Express and Pioneer Venus Orbiter observations over similar parts of the solar cycle. We will also use the observed solar wind moments as upstream boundary inputs into a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model and present a global picture of the induced Venusian magnetosphere and the subsequent ion acceleration, as well as the magnetic topology throughout the first three flybys.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2020
- Bibcode:
- 2020AGUFMSH047..07C
- Keywords:
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- 7829 Kinetic waves and instabilities;
- SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS;
- 7845 Particle acceleration;
- SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS;
- 7846 Plasma energization;
- SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS;
- 7851 Shock waves;
- SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS