title: MESSENGER observations of magnetic reconnection in Mercury's magnetosphere.
abstract: Solar wind energy transfer to planetary magnetospheres and ionospheres is controlled by magnetic reconnection, a process that determines the degree of connectivity between the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and a planet's magnetic field. During MESSENGER's second flyby of Mercury, a steady southward IMF was observed and the magnetopause was threaded by a strong magnetic field, indicating a reconnection rate ~10 times that typical at Earth. Moreover, a large flux transfer event was observed in the magnetosheath, and a plasmoid and multiple traveling compression regions were observed in Mercury's magnetotail, all products of reconnection. These observations indicate that Mercury's magnetosphere is much more responsive to IMF direction and dominated by the effects of reconnection than that of Earth or the other magnetized planets.
authors.affiliation: Heliophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA. james.a.slavin@nasa.gov
authors.forename: James A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Slavin
authors.forename: Mario H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Acuña
authors.forename: Brian J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.forename: Daniel N
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benna
authors.forename: Scott A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Boardsen
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Gloeckler
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Gold
authors.forename: George C
authors.initials: GC
authors.lastname: Ho
authors.forename: Haje
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Korth
authors.forename: Stamatios M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Krimigis
authors.forename: Ralph L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: McNutt
authors.forename: Jim M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Raines
authors.forename: Menelaos
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sarantos
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Schriver
authors.forename: Sean C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Solomon
authors.forename: Pavel
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Trávnícek
authors.forename: Thomas H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Zurbuchen