[1] Results from 3D multi-fluid simulations of the solar wind interaction with Pluto are compared to 3D hybrid simulations of the same interaction. The results from the multi-fluid simulations are similar to the hybrid results in both the overall size of the magnetosphere as well as predicting pick-up of ionospheric ions by the solar wind. The results from the multi-fluid simulations also show ...

[1] Much attention has been focused on the reaction of the magnetosphere to the solar wind during the recent extended solar minimum (2006–2010). Although this period was exceptionally quiet when categorized by some parameters (e.g., the number of sunspots) the solar wind still contained features which impacted the Earth’s magnetosphere and caused geomagnetic disturbances. Recurrent corotating i...

To further our understanding of the solar wind entry across the magnetopause under northward IMF, we perform a case study of a duskside Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) vortex event on 24 March 1995. We have found that the protons consist of two separate (cold and hot) components in the magnetosphere-like region inside the KH vortical structure. The cold proton component occasionally consisted of counter-...

NSSDC's OMNI dataset, which now spans 1963-1999, contains a collection of hourly means of interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and solar wind (SW) plasma parameters measured near the Earth's orbit, as well as some auxiliary data. We report a study of solar cycle effects in planetary geomagnetic activity in which 27-day averages of several OMNI parameters are compared with equivalent Kp and Dst a...

We examine the residual (measured minus internal) magnetic field vectors observed in Saturn’s magnetosphere during the Pioneer-11 fly-by in 1979, and compare them with those observed during the Voyager-1 and -2 flybys in 1980 and 1981. We show for the first time that a ring current system was present within the magnetosphere during the Pioneer-11 encounter, which was qualitatively similar to th...

We report on the numerical discovery of quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) associated with accretion through a non-axisymmetric magnetic boundary layer in the unstable regime, when two ordered equatorial streams form and rotate synchronously at approximately the angular velocity of the inner disk The streams hit the star’s surface producing hot spots. Rotation of the spots leads to high-frequen...

We present a time-dependent model of the interaction between a neutron star magnetosphere and a thin (Shakura-Sunyaev) accretion disk, where the extent of the magnetosphere is determined by balancing outward diffusion and inward advection of the stellar magnetic field at the inner edge of the disc. The nature of the equilibria available to the system is governed by the magnetic Prandtl number P...

[1] Ion cyclotron motion can play a role in shaping magnetospheres and governing magnetospheric dynamics, particularly in weakly magnetized systems such as the moons of outer planets. However, MHD explicitly neglects such effects. We demonstrate the importance of ion cyclotron motion in the near space environment of Ganymede using 3-dimensional multi-fluid simulations to account for Galileo mag...

The cold, core plasma mass density in the Earth’s magnetosphere may be deduced from the resonant behaviour of ultra-low frequency (ULF; 1–100mHz), magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves. Ground-based magnetometers are the most widely used instruments for recording the signature of ULF wave activity in the magnetosphere. For a suitable model of the background magnetic field and a functional form for th...

[1] A multifluid version of the Lyon‐Fedder‐Mobarry global simulation model has been used to investigate the effects of outflowing ionospheric O on the magnetosphere‐ ionosphere system. To quantify these effects, we specify the number density, upward parallel velocity, and temperature of the O outflow in a limited area of the low‐altitude simulation boundary representing the projection of cusp,...