Do these storms on Mercury produce aurora displays as they do on Earth? 🧐
published in February 2022 that outline some key features of this small and often overlooked planet. The first study indicates that the planet has a ring current consisting of charged particles that flows laterally around the planet and excludes the poles while the second points to the existence of geomagnetic storms triggered by this specific ring current.
“The processes are quite similar to here on Earth," said in the statement Hui Zhang, a space physics professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute. “The main differences are the size of the planet and Mercury has a weak magnetic field and virtually no atmosphere.” The question now remains: do these storms on Mercury produce aurora displays as they do on Earth? It turns out they don't as solar wind particles on the distant planet don’t encounter an atmosphere, allowing them to reach the surface unimpeded.The scientists further speculate that Mercury's storms would therefore only be visible through X-ray and gamma-ray examination.
It was a new analysis of data from Messenger, which had begun dropping closer to the planet as a result of its upcoming crash, that showed"the presence of a ring current intensification that is essential for triggering magnetic storms," states the second of the two papers.
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