𝙳𝚊𝚢 2 🌙 GANYMEDE
Sunday, we salute legendary scientists and explore Celestial Wings🕊
I consulted the incredible Dr Xianzhe Jai regarding the scintillating science taking place at Ganymede, and he patiently walked me through the heady science concepts and today's topic — Ganymede's unique magnetospheric design.
Many planetary bodies experience the direct influence of solar wind particles. The solar wind-heat slows down at the bow shock and detours around the magnetosheath, similar to watching water detouring around the edges of a stone.
The wave flow at Ganymede directly influences the structure of its magnetosphere. Therefore, it is not the typical design you would see at other planetary magnetospheres exposed to the solar winds.
Instead, Ganymede's magnetosphere forms alfvén-wings that are morphologically easy to recognise. It creates two extending wing-like formations above and below Ganymede.
LIBRETTO excerpt
𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒑𝒉𝒐𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎
𝑺𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒊𝒏𝒈, 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈
𝑪𝒐𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓
𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒃𝒊𝒓𝒕𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒍𝒇𝒗𝒆́𝒏 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔
Solar Winds are super- alfvénic; however, inside the Jovian magnetosphere, the plasma waves move at sub Alfvenic speeds that travel at approximately 150km per second, which is considerably slower than the solar winds' speed which averages 400km per second.
"Alfvén" derives its name from the Swedish born scientist Hannes Alfvén, who won the noble prize in physics in 1971 for his work on Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD).
Ganymedes alfvén-wings directly mediates the interaction of the plasma and ionosphere of Jupiter, and its slower-moving plasma environment is an excellent benefit for scientists to study since the calmer conditions act as a natural laboratory for further research and continues to enthral planetary scientists.
The magnetosheath is the region of the magnetosphere between the bow shock and the magnetopause
He won the noble prize in physics in 1970 for his work on Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). MHD in plasma physics measures hydromagnetic waves that can propagate in magnetically dominated plasma.
EXPERIENCE THE SCIENCE and MUSIC
GANYMEDE Music Excerpt "Celestial birth of Alfven Wings"