The response of Mercury’s large iron conducting core to the temporal variations of the solar wind. Figure is adapted from Slavin et al. [2014]. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JA020319 (IMAGE)

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The response of Mercury’s large iron conducting core to the temporal variations of the solar wind. Figure is adapted from Slavin et al. [2014]. https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JA020319

Caption

An increase in solar wind pressure drives induction currents on the iron core (the cyan loops in (a) and (b), which add magnetic flux to the intrinsic magnetic field (the cyan magnetic field lines in (a) and (b)). Dayside magnetopause reconnection can erode magnetic flux in the dayside magnetosphere, including the induction-created field lines, as shown in (b).

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