Space and planetary physics 2022-2025
Lead Research Organisation:
Imperial College London
Department Name: Physics
Abstract
We will undertake a broad programme of work studying the Sun, interplanetary space and several of the planets and moons in our Solar System. We choose projects that address some of the most fundamental processes that exist in space: as a result, many aspects of our work can be applied to other solar systems, or other space environments throughout the Universe. We also study aspects of interplanetary space that will ultimately help us better predict conditions there, and especially those near the Earth, where they can harm astronauts and damage satellites and even electrical systems on the ground. In this way, we help to predict such "space weather" and improve society at large.
Space is filled with small amounts of charged particles, called a plasma, along with magnetic and electric fields. One fundamental process that occurs in space plasmas is magnetic reconnection, which occurs on very small scales but releases magnetic energy and accelerates particles on large scales. We will study spacecraft measurements of reconnection and determine how energy is converted and transported around reconnection sites.
At the very large scale, coronal mass ejections are released from the Sun and can cause space weather effects when they arrive near the Earth. We will use measurements from many spacecraft to study how these structures evolve as they travel through the solar system to better understand the space weather risk.
We will use the same set of spacecraft, some of which travel very close to the Sun, to study small scale structures in the solar wind plasma that flows away from it. These "switchbacks" carry energy into space, but their source on the Sun is unknown.
We will also analyse some of the very smallest scales in the solar wind, over which protons gyrate around the magnetic field, and simulate their behaviour in order to understand how the distribution of particles evolves as the they travel away from the Sun.
We are also interested in the environment around planets and moons in the solar system. Ganymede is a moon of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. Ganymede is a high priority science target because it is the only moon known to have a magnetic field and one of very few to probably have a subsurface ocean. It interacts with Jupiter's plasma and magnetic field and we will develop an advanced model to simulate this interaction.
The closest planet to the Sun, Mercury, also has a magnetic field and as it interacts with the solar wind flowing past, many waves are generated. We will study how these waves can accelerate particles around the planet.
We have a long history of studying the gas giant planets of the outer solar system. At Saturn, we will study waves high in its atmosphere; such waves also exist at the Earth and by studying those at Saturn, we will learn about the global circulation of Saturn's atmosphere and how it couples into space around the planet.
Finally, we will improve the way that we can run computer simulations of space around the outer planets. Working with modellers we will use our theoretical knowledge to include several key physical effects into the models so that we can improve their quality and predictive power.
Space is filled with small amounts of charged particles, called a plasma, along with magnetic and electric fields. One fundamental process that occurs in space plasmas is magnetic reconnection, which occurs on very small scales but releases magnetic energy and accelerates particles on large scales. We will study spacecraft measurements of reconnection and determine how energy is converted and transported around reconnection sites.
At the very large scale, coronal mass ejections are released from the Sun and can cause space weather effects when they arrive near the Earth. We will use measurements from many spacecraft to study how these structures evolve as they travel through the solar system to better understand the space weather risk.
We will use the same set of spacecraft, some of which travel very close to the Sun, to study small scale structures in the solar wind plasma that flows away from it. These "switchbacks" carry energy into space, but their source on the Sun is unknown.
We will also analyse some of the very smallest scales in the solar wind, over which protons gyrate around the magnetic field, and simulate their behaviour in order to understand how the distribution of particles evolves as the they travel away from the Sun.
We are also interested in the environment around planets and moons in the solar system. Ganymede is a moon of Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system. Ganymede is a high priority science target because it is the only moon known to have a magnetic field and one of very few to probably have a subsurface ocean. It interacts with Jupiter's plasma and magnetic field and we will develop an advanced model to simulate this interaction.
The closest planet to the Sun, Mercury, also has a magnetic field and as it interacts with the solar wind flowing past, many waves are generated. We will study how these waves can accelerate particles around the planet.
We have a long history of studying the gas giant planets of the outer solar system. At Saturn, we will study waves high in its atmosphere; such waves also exist at the Earth and by studying those at Saturn, we will learn about the global circulation of Saturn's atmosphere and how it couples into space around the planet.
Finally, we will improve the way that we can run computer simulations of space around the outer planets. Working with modellers we will use our theoretical knowledge to include several key physical effects into the models so that we can improve their quality and predictive power.
Organisations
Publications
Adhikari S
(2023)
Effect of a guide field on the turbulence like properties of magnetic reconnection
in Physics of Plasmas
Agapitov O
(2022)
Flux Rope Merging and the Structure of Switchbacks in the Solar Wind
in The Astrophysical Journal
Archer M
(2023)
Magnetosonic ULF Waves With Anomalous Plasma-Magnetic Field Correlations: Standing Waves and Inhomogeneous Plasmas
in Geophysical Research Letters
Baker D
(2023)
Observational Evidence of S-web Source of the Slow Solar Wind
in The Astrophysical Journal
Bale SD
(2023)
Interchange reconnection as the source of the fast solar wind within coronal holes.
in Nature
Bowen TA
(2022)
In Situ Signature of Cyclotron Resonant Heating in the Solar Wind.
in Physical review letters
Brandt PC
(2023)
Future Exploration of the Outer Heliosphere and Very Local Interstellar Medium by Interstellar Probe.
in Space science reviews
Brown Z
(2022)
Evidence for Gravity Waves in the Thermosphere of Saturn and Implications for Global Circulation
in Geophysical Research Letters
Chen L
(2023)
Plasma turbulence: Challenges and next transformative steps from the perspective of multi-spacecraft measurements
in Bulletin of the AAS
De Marco R
(2023)
Innovative technique for separating proton core, proton beam, and alpha particles in solar wind 3D velocity distribution functions
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Desai M
(2022)
Suprathermal Ion Energy Spectra and Anisotropies near the Heliospheric Current Sheet Crossing Observed by the Parker Solar Probe during Encounter 7
in The Astrophysical Journal
Dimmock A
(2022)
Analysis of multiscale structures at the quasi-perpendicular Venus bow shock Results from Solar Orbiter's first Venus flyby
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Duan D
(2023)
Kinetic Features of Alpha Particles in a Pestchek-like Magnetic Reconnection Event in the Solar Wind Observed by Solar Orbiter
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Elsden T
(2023)
Modeling Features of Field Line Resonance Observable by a Single Spacecraft at Saturn
in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Fargette N
(2023)
Clustering of magnetic reconnection exhausts in the solar wind: An automated detection study
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Fletcher L
(2023)
Jupiter Science Enabled by ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer
Fletcher LN
(2023)
Jupiter Science Enabled by ESA's Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer.
in Space science reviews
Horbury T
(2023)
Switchbacks, microstreams, and broadband turbulence in the solar wind
in Physics of Plasmas
Hwang K
(2023)
Cross-Scale Processes of Magnetic Reconnection
in Space Science Reviews
Jones G
(2024)
The Comet Interceptor Mission
in Space Science Reviews
Khabarova O
(2023)
Editorial: Reviews in space physics
in Frontiers in Astronomy and Space Sciences
Klein K
(2023)
HelioSwarm: A Multipoint, Multiscale Mission to Characterize Turbulence
in Space Science Reviews
Krasnoselskikh V
(2023)
ICARUS: in-situ studies of the solar corona beyond Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter
in Experimental Astronomy
Laker R
(2022)
Switchback deflections beyond the early parker solar probe encounters
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Laker R
(2024)
Coherent deflection pattern and associated temperature enhancements in the near-Sun solar wind
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Leblanc F
(2023)
Ganymede's atmosphere as constrained by HST/STIS observations
in Icarus
Lewis Z
(2023)
Origin and trends in NH4+ observed in the coma of 67P
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Lewis Z
(2023)
Origin and trends in NH4+ observed in the coma of 67P
Livi S
(2023)
First results from the Solar Orbiter Heavy Ion Sensor
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Louarn P
(2024)
Skewness and kurtosis of solar wind proton distribution functions: The normal inverse-Gaussian model and its implications
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Möstl C
(2022)
Multipoint Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections Observed with Solar Orbiter, BepiColombo, Parker Solar Probe, Wind, and STEREO-A
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Owen C
(2022)
Solar Orbiter SWA Observations of Electron Strahl Properties Inside 1 AU
in Universe
Paouris E
(2023)
The Space Weather Context of the First Extreme Event of Solar Cycle 25, on 2022 September 5
in The Astrophysical Journal
Phan TD
(2022)
Parker Solar Probe Observations of Solar Wind Energetic Proton Beams Produced by Magnetic Reconnection in the Near-Sun Heliospheric Current Sheet.
in Geophysical research letters
Raouafi N
(2023)
Parker Solar Probe: Four Years of Discoveries at Solar Cycle Minimum
in Space Science Reviews
Raouafi N
(2023)
Magnetic Reconnection as the Driver of the Solar Wind
in The Astrophysical Journal
Réville V
(2022)
Flux rope and dynamics of the heliospheric current sheet Study of the Parker Solar Probe and Solar Orbiter conjunction of June 2020
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Réville V
(2023)
HelioCast: heliospheric forecasting based on white-light observations of the solar corona
in Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate
Sioulas N
(2023)
Magnetic Field Spectral Evolution in the Inner Heliosphere
in The Astrophysical Journal Letters
Sioulas N
(2023)
On the Evolution of the Anisotropic Scaling of Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence in the Inner Heliosphere
in The Astrophysical Journal
Stawarz J
(2022)
Turbulence-driven magnetic reconnection and the magnetic correlation length: Observations from Magnetospheric Multiscale in Earth's magnetosheath
in Physics of Plasmas
Stephenson P
(2023)
The source of electrons at comet 67P
Stephenson P
(2023)
The source of electrons at comet 67P
in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Suen G
(2023)
Magnetic reconnection as an erosion mechanism for magnetic switchbacks
in Astronomy & Astrophysics
Description | BBC4 programme - Secrets of Size: Atoms to Supergalaxies |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | BBC4 science series, Secrets of Size: Atoms to Supergalaxies - Tim Horbury took part in episode 2, "Going Big." Featured discussion about Solar Orbiter mssion and the science being done. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0017njc/secrets-of-size-atoms-to-supergalaxies-series-1-2-goi... |
Description | Catch a comet |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Regional |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | This activity was part of the Great Exhibition Road Festival in June 2022. We had posters illustrating our involvement in Comet Interceptor for engaging with the public. We had also a stand to make comets from dry ice and discussing about the relevance of visiting comets. This attracted a lot of interest and offered interaction to the public to inspire them in the research we are undertaking. We had a stand for activity with children to build a spacecraft using printouts of Rosetta. While they were building the models, we also spoke with them about the cometary missions we are involved in, adapting our explanations to their age. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.greatexhibitionroadfestival.co.uk |
Description | Encounter with a comet + Musical Magnetometer |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | Local |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | This activity was part of the Imperial Late: Science above our heads (Dec 2022) Goals: To inspire and engage with the public, to stimulate their interest in space and planetary science, to share with them involvement of Imperial College London/STFC in space missions through scientific and hardware contributions The group had two stands: - One stand was about cometary science with: (1) board game to simulate the three spacecraft flyby a comet (Comet Interceptor), this was very popular and many public members play the game and received rewards (e.g., bookmarks) (2) making a comet from dry ice (5 times over the evening) which attracted a lot of interest at each session (3) poster board to ask the members of the public for input re comets, more than 40 contributed (4) poster about Comet Interceptor and our involvement in the mission. - Another stand was about magnetometry and made use of electromagnetism to have music playing; the public could select a planet and a different tune would play, while at the same time they were introduced to magnetism and magnetometers built in the lab. This was another very popular stand. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |
URL | https://www.imperial.ac.uk/events/155733/imperial-lates-look-up/ |
Description | New Scientist article |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | Interviewed and quoted in a cover article for New Scientist on space weather. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022 |