Solar wind interaction with planets and minor planetary bodies

The Heliospheric Imagers carried by the NASA STEREO mission have revolutionised our view of the solar wind in interplanetary space. These wide-field cameras reveal the presence of solar wind streams and solar mass ejections as the move outwards from the Sun. While this mission was designed to study the impact of such 'space weather' at Earth, the wide fields of view of the HI cameras often contain planets, comets and many minor planets. With the advent of the lightweight solar wind model, HUXt, together with advanced data assimilation techniques, it is now possible to conveniently model the solar wind throughout the inner solar system and thus study the interaction of the solar wind with this wider selection of planetary bodies. In this project, the student will consider such interactions in detail to identify signatures of space weather effects at these other planetary bodies.