Characterizing the Solar Wind-Magnetosphere Viscous Interaction in the Outer Solar System: Analytical Assessment of the Probability of the Kelvin Helmholtz Instability Growth at Uranus and Neptune
Date
2022-02-18
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University of Oregon
Abstract
Uranus and Neptune have dynamic magnetopause interfaces to the solar wind due to the orientation of their rotation and magnetic axes. The magnetohydrodynamic plasma description suggests that solar wind conditions in the outer solar system encourage magnetosphere boundaries at Uranus and Neptune to be more Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) unstable, but no quantitative assessment has been performed. This study employs an analytical model to test the condition for KH instability growth at the outermost planets in the solar system. The solar wind and tilted planetary magnetic field are separated by a surface representing the magnetopause. Values from each region are applied to the KH condition to evaluate if the instability is possible. The model is evaluated for both Uranus and Neptune at solstice and equinox geometries, under a variety of solar wind interplanetary magnetic fields, and over the course of its daily rotation.
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Keywords
Kelvin Helmholtz Instability, Magnetohydrodynamics, Magnetopause, Magnetosphere, Neptune, Uranus