メッセンジャー観測は,水星の磁気圏におけるエネルギーのある電子の一時的な爆発を観測した
George C Ho1, Stamatios M Krimigis, Robert E Gold
1The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD 20723, USA. george.ho@jhuapl.edu
まとめ
メッセンジャー号は水星の近くで,陽子ではなく,エネルギッシュな電子を検出した. 水星の弱い磁場は,他の惑星で見られるような放射線帯の形成を防ぐ.
科学分野:
- 惑星科学 惑星科学
- 宇宙物理学 宇宙物理学
- 磁気圏物理学 磁気圏物理学
背景:
- MESSENGER宇宙船は,弱固有の磁場を持つ惑星である水星を周回していた.
- 惑星の磁気圏と放射線帯を理解することは,宇宙探査にとって極めて重要です.
研究 の 目的:
- 水星の磁気圏におけるエネルギー粒子の存在と特性を調査する.
- 水星がヴァン・アレン型放射線帯を持っているかどうかを判断するために.
主な方法:
- MESSENGER宇宙船からのエネルギーのある電子と陽子のデータ (エネルギー>30 keV) の分析.
- 粒子強度,エネルギースペクトル,角分布の検討.
主要な成果:
- エネルギーのある電子 (>30 keV) は頻繁に爆発で検出され,エネルギーのある陽子は欠けていた.
- 電子のエネルギーはしばしば100 keVを超えており,分布は赤道から極点まで広がっています.
- 角分布は,電子が水星周りの完全な漂流経路を完了していないことを示した.
結論:
- 水星の弱い磁場は,安定したヴァン・アレン型放射帯を支えない.
- 観測されたエネルギッシュな電子の集団は,他の惑星の磁気圏で見られるものとは異なる.
関連する概念動画
Thomson's e/m Experiment
In a beam of charged particles created by a heated cathode, the particles move at different speeds. However, many applications need a beam with uniform particle speeds. An arrangement known as a velocity selector uses electric and magnetic fields to pick particles with a particular speed from the beam.
A particle with charge q, speed v, and mass m enters an area from the top, where the magnetic and electric fields are perpendicular both to the particle's motion and to one another. The magnetic...
A particle with charge q, speed v, and mass m enters an area from the top, where the magnetic and electric fields are perpendicular both to the particle's motion and to one another. The magnetic...
Magnetism
Magnets are commonly found in everyday objects, such as toys, hangers, elevators, doorbells, and computer devices. Experimentation on these magnets shows that all magnets have two poles: one is labeled north (N) and the other south (S). Magnetic poles repel if they are alike and attract if unlike. Moreover, both poles of a magnet attract unmagnetized pieces of iron.
An individual magnetic pole cannot be isolated. No matter how small, every piece of a magnet contains a north pole and a south...
An individual magnetic pole cannot be isolated. No matter how small, every piece of a magnet contains a north pole and a south...
Generating Electromagnetic Radiations
The German physicist Heinrich Hertz (1857–1894) was the first to generate and detect certain types of electromagnetic waves in the laboratory. Starting in 1887, he performed a series of experiments that confirmed the existence of electromagnetic waves and verified that they travel at the speed of light. Hertz used an alternating-current RLC (resistor-inductor-capacitor) circuit that resonated at a known frequency and connected it to a loop of wire. High voltages induced across the gap in the...
Transmission Electron Microscopy
In 1931, physicist Ernst Ruska—building on the idea that magnetic fields can direct an electron beam just as lenses can direct a beam of light in an optical microscope—developed the first prototype of the electron microscope. This development led to the development of the field of electron microscopy. In the transmission electron microscope (TEM), electrons are produced by a hot tungsten element and accelerated by a potential difference in an electron gun, which gives them up to 400 keV in...
Magnetic Moment of an Electron
Electrons revolving around a nucleus are analogous to a circular current carrying loop. This current produces a magnetic dipole moment proportional to the electron's orbital angular momentum. Since the orbital angular momentum is quantized in terms of the reduced Planck's constant, the dipole moment is quantized in the Bohr Magneton. The value of the Bohr magneton is 9.27 x 10-24 Am2. Electrons also have an intrinsic spin angular momentum, and the associated spin magnetic moment is...
Electromagnetic Fields
Electric fields generated by static charges, often referred to as electrostatic fields, are characteristically different from electric fields created by time-varying magnetic fields. While the former is a conservative field, implying that no net work is done on a test charge if it goes around in a complete loop in the field, the latter is, by definition, not a conservative field; net work is done, and it is proportional to the rate of change of magnetic flux.
However, the observation of Gauss's...
However, the observation of Gauss's...

