arXiv subjects

Christian Mazelle

Publications and source records attributed to Christian Mazelle.

13 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Simultaneous Mars-orbit observations reveal Kelvin-Helmholtz instability-driven bulk atmospheric ion escape

Atmospheric ion escape driven by the solar wind is a key process controlling the long-term loss of the Martian atmosphere. Localized plasma clouds can carry substantial fluxes of planetary ions away from Mars, representing episodes of bulk escape. However, their origin has remained unclear due to the absence of simultaneous upstream measurements. Using joint observations from the MAVEN and Tianwen-1 missions, which provide real-time upstream monitoring, we present direct evidence that these plasma clouds are nonlinear wave packets generated by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI). The spatial scale of KH waves is constrained for the first time via two-point measurements. Ion fluxes within plasma clouds are one to two orders of magnitude higher than those in typical steady-state escape channels. Our results indicate that KHI is an important process for solar wind coupling to planetary upper atmospheres and plays a crucial role in shaping atmospheric ion escape for unmagnetized planets.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2026

Direct Observations of Magnetic Reconnection in the Solar Wind Current Sheets near Mars

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental and ubiquitous process in astrophysical plasmas that converts magnetic energy into plasma kinetic and thermal energy. Throughout the heliosphere, the solar wind is permeated with current sheets (CSs), providing a natural laboratory for investigating this process. Using measurements from NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft, we report the first direct observations of magnetic reconnection occurring within the solar wind CSs near Mars. Specifically, MAVEN observed the classic Petschek-type reconnection exhaust regions, evidenced by bifurcated magnetic field signatures and Alfvenic ion outflows. Notably, the observed exhaust region appears to be large-scale, significantly exceeding the typical thickness of solar wind CSs near Mars. This suggests that magnetic reconnection may significantly broaden the CS. Our results underscore the ubiquity of magnetic reconnection across heliocentric distances and may provide new insights into the large-scale evolution of the solar wind and the development of turbulence within it.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2024

Foreshock Ultra-Low Frequency Waves at Mars: Consequence on the Particle Acceleration Mechanisms at the Martian Bow Shock

Using Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN Magnetometer observations, we report the first statistical study of ultra-low frequency (ULF) waves at the Martian foreshock. The analyzed foreshock ULF wave events are observed in the 0.008-0.086 Hz frequency range, with nearly circular and elliptical left-handed polarization in the spacecraft reference frame. These waves are propagated quasi-parallel to the ambient magnetic field, with a moderate wave amplitude. All these properties are consistent with fast magnetosonic waves, most likely generated through the ion-ion right-hand resonant instability. In addition, our results suggest that the associated resonant backstreaming protons' velocities parallel to the mean magnetic field in the solar wind reference frame is $1.33 \pm 0.40$ times the solar wind velocity. The similarity between our results and previous reports at other foreshocks may indicate the presence of a common acceleration process acting in planetary bow shocks and that is responsible for this particular backstreaming population.

physics.plasm-ph↗

arXiv2022

Making waves: Mirror Mode structures around Mars observed by the MAVEN spacecraft

We present an in-depth analysis of a time interval when quasi-linear mirror mode structures were detected by magnetic field and plasma measurements as observed by the NASA/Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) spacecraft. We employ ion and electron spectrometers in tandem to support the magnetic field measurements and confirm that the signatures are indeed mirror modes. Wedged against the magnetic pile-up boundary, the low-frequency signatures last on average $\sim$10 s with corresponding sizes of the order of 15-30 upstream solar wind proton thermal gyroradii, or 10-20 proton gyroradii in the immediate wake of the quasi-perpendicular bow shock. Their peak-to-peak amplitudes are of the order of 30-35 nT with respect to the background field, and appear as a mixture of dips and peaks, suggesting that they may have been at different stages in their evolution. Situated in a marginally stable plasma with $β_{||}\sim$1, we hypothesise that these so-called magnetic bottles, containing a relatively higher energy and denser ion population with respect to the background plasma, are formed upstream of the spacecraft behind the quasi-perpendicular shock. These signatures are very reminiscent of magnetic bottles found at other unmagnetised objects such as Venus and comets, also interpreted as mirror modes. Our case study constitutes the first unmistakable identification and characterisation of mirror modes at Mars from the joint points of view of magnetic field, electron and ion measurements. Up until now, the lack of high-temporal resolution plasma measurements has prevented such an in-depth study.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2019

Mars' plasma system. Scientific potential of coordinated multi-point missions: "The next generation" (A White Paper submitted to ESA's Voyage 2050 Call)

The objective of this White Paper submitted to ESA's Voyage 2050 call is to get a more holistic knowledge of the dynamics of the Martian plasma system from its surface up to the undisturbed solar wind outside of the induced magnetosphere. This can only be achieved with coordinated multi-point observations with high temporal resolution as they have the scientific potential to track the whole dynamics of the system (from small to large scales), and they constitute the next generation of Mars' exploration as it happened at Earth few decades ago. This White Paper discusses the key science questions that are still open at Mars and how they could be addressed with coordinated multipoint missions. The main science questions are: (i) How does solar wind driving impact on magnetospheric and ionospheric dynamics? (ii) What is the structure and nature of the tail of Mars' magnetosphere at all scales? (iii) How does the lower atmosphere couple to the upper atmosphere? (iv) Why should we have a permanent in-situ Space Weather monitor at Mars? Each science question is devoted to a specific plasma region, and includes several specific scientific objectives to study in the coming decades. In addition, two mission concepts are also proposed based on coordinated multi-point science from a constellation of orbiting and ground-based platforms, which focus on understanding and solving the current science gaps.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2019

Cometary Plasma Science -- A White Paper in response to the Voyage 2050 Call by the European Space Agency

Comets hold the key to the understanding of our solar system, its formation and its evolution, and to the fundamental plasma processes at work both in it and beyond it. A comet nucleus emits gas as it is heated by the sunlight. The gas forms the coma, where it is ionised, becomes a plasma and eventually interacts with the solar wind. Besides these neutral and ionised gases, the coma also contains dust grains, released from the comet nucleus. As a cometary atmosphere develops when the comet travels through the solar system, large-scale structures, such as the plasma boundaries, develop and disappear, while at planets such large-scale structures are only accessible in their fully grown, quasi-steady state. In situ measurements at comets enable us to learn both how such large-scale structures are formed or reformed and how small-scale processes in the plasma affect the formation and properties of these large scale structures. Furthermore, a comet goes through a wide range of parameter regimes during its life cycle, where either collisional processes, involving neutrals and charged particles, or collisionless processes are at play, and might even compete in complicated transitional regimes. Thus a comet presents a unique opportunity to study this parameter space, from an asteroid-like to a Mars- and Venus-like interaction. Fast flybys of comets have made many new discoveries, setting the stage for a multi-spacecraft mission to accompany a comet on its journey through the solar system. This white paper reviews the present-day knowledge of cometary plasmas, discusses the many questions that remain unanswered, and outlines a multi-spacecraft ESA mission to accompany a comet that will answer these questions by combining both multi-spacecraft observations and a rendezvous mission, and at the same time advance our understanding of fundamental plasma physics and its role in planetary systems.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2015

Theory for planetary exospheres: III. Radiation pressure effect on the Circular Restricted Three Body Problem and its implication on planetary atmospheres

The planetary exospheres are poorly known in their outer parts, since the neutral densities are low compared with the instruments detection capabilities. The exospheric models are thus often the main source of information at such high altitudes. We present a new way to take into account analytically the additional effect of the stellar radiation pressure on planetary exospheres. In a series of papers, we present with an Hamiltonian approach the effect of the radiation pressure on dynamical trajectories, density profiles and escaping thermal flux. Our work is a generalization of the study by Bishop and Chamberlain (1989). In this third paper, we investigate the effect of the stellar radiation pressure on the Circular Restricted Three Body Problem (CR3BP), called also the photogravitational CR3BP, and its implication on the escape and the stability of planetary exospheres, especially for Hot Jupiters. In particular, we describe the transformation of the equipotentials and the location of the Lagrange points, and we provide a modified equation for the Hill sphere radius that includes the influence of the radiation pressure. Finally, an application to the hot Jupiter HD 209458b reveals the existence of a blow-off escape regime induced by the stellar radiation pressure.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2015

The ULF wave foreshock boundary: Cluster observations

The interaction of backstreaming ions with the incoming solar wind in the upstream region of the bow shock gives rise to a number of plasma instabilities from which ultra-low frequency (ULF) waves can grow. Because of their finite growth rate, the ULF waves are spatially localized in the foreshock region. Previous studies have reported observational evidences of the existence of a ULF wave foreshock boundary, which geometrical characteristics are very sensitive to the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) cone angle. The statistical properties of the ULF wave foreshock boundary is examined in detail using Cluster data. A new identification of the ULF wave foreshock boundary is presented using specific and accurate criterion for a precises determination of boundary crossings. The criterion is based on the degree of IMF rotation as Cluster crosses the boundary. The obtained ULF wave foreshock boundary is compared with previous results reported in the literature as well as with theoretical predictions. Also, we examined the possible connexion between the foreshock boundary properties and the ion emission mechanisms at the bow shock.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2015

Theory for planetary exospheres: II. Radiation pressure effect on exospheric density profiles

The planetary exospheres are poorly known in their outer parts, since the neutral densities are low compared with the instruments detection capabilities. The exospheric models are thus often the main source of information at such high altitudes. We present a new way to take into account analytically the additional effect of the radiation pressure on planetary exospheres. In a series of papers, we present with an Hamiltonian approach the effect of the radiation pressure on dynamical trajectories, density profiles and escaping thermal flux. Our work is a generalization of the study by Bishop and Chamberlain (1989). In this second part of our work, we present here the density profiles of atomic Hydrogen in planetary exospheres subject to the radiation pressure. We first provide the altitude profiles of ballistic particles (the dominant exospheric population in most cases), which exhibit strong asymmetries that explain the known geotail phenomenon at Earth. The radiation pressure strongly enhances the densities compared with the pure gravity case (i.e. the Chamberlain profiles), in particular at noon and midnight. We finally show the existence of an exopause that appears naturally as the external limit for bounded particles, above which all particles are escaping.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2015

Theory for planetary exospheres: I. Radiation pressure effect on dynamical trajectories

The planetary exospheres are poorly known in their outer parts, since the neutral densities are low compared with the instruments detection capabilities. The exospheric models are thus often the main source of information at such high altitudes. We present a new way to take into account analytically the additional effect of the radiation pressure on planetary exospheres. In a series of papers, we present with an Hamiltonian approach the effect of the radiation pressure on dynamical trajectories, density profiles and escaping thermal flux. Our work is a generalization of the study by Bishop and Chamberlain (1989). In this first paper, we present the complete exact solutions of particles trajectories, which are not conics, under the influence of the solar radiation pressure. This problem was recently partly solved by Lantoine and Russell (2011) and completely by Biscani and Izzo (2014). We give here the full set of solutions, including solutions not previously derived, as well as simpler formulations for previously known cases and comparisons with recent works. The solutions given may also be applied to the classical Stark problem (Stark,1914): we thus provide here for the first time the complete set of solutions for this well-known effect in term of Jacobi elliptic functions.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2013

Temporal Variability of Waves at the Proton Cyclotron Frequency Upstream from Mars: Implications for Mars Distant Hydrogen Exosphere

We report on the temporal variability of the occurrence of waves at the local proton cyclotron frequency upstream from the Martian bow shock from Mars Global Surveyor observations during the first aerobraking and science phasing orbit periods. Observations at high southern latitudes during minimum-to-mean solar activity show that the wave occurrence rate is significantly higher around perihelion southern summer solstice and lower around the same hemisphere's spring and autumn equinoxes. A similar trend is observed in the hydrogen (H) exospheric density profiles over the Martian South Pole obtained from a model including UV thermospheric heating effects. In spite of the complexity in the ion pick-up and plasma wave generation and evolution processes, these results support the idea that variations in the occurrence of waves could be used to study the temporal evolution of the distant Martian H corona and its coupling with the thermosphere at altitudes currently inaccessible to direct measurements.

physics.space-ph↗

arXiv2013

Proton Cyclotron Waves Upstream from Mars: Observations from Mars Global Surveyor

We present a study on the properties of electromagnetic plasma waves in the region upstream of the Martian bow shock, detected by the magnetometer and electron reflectometer (MAG / ER) onboard the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft during the period known as Science Phasing Orbits (SPO). The frequency of these waves, measured in the MGS reference frame (SC), is close to the local proton cyclotron frequency. Minimum variance analysis (MVA) shows that these 'proton cyclotron frequency' waves (PCWs) are characterized - in the SC frame - by a left-hand, elliptical polarization and propagate almost parallel to the background magnetic field. They also have a small degree of compressibility and an amplitude that decreases with the increase of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) cone angle and radial distance from the planet. The latter result supports the idea that the source of these waves is Mars. In addition, we find that these waves are not associated with the foreshock . Empirical evidence and theoretical approaches suggest that most of these observations correspond to the ion-ion right hand (RH) mode originating from the pick-up of ionized exospheric hydrogen. The left-hand (LH) mode might be present in cases where the IMF cone angle is high. PCWs occur in 62% of the time during SPO1 subphase, whereas occurrence drops to 8% during SPO2. Also, SPO1 PCWs preserve their characteristics for longer time periods and have greater degree of polarization and coherence than those in SPO2. We discuss these results in the context of possible changes in the pick-up conditions from SPO1 to SPO2, or steady, spatial inhomogeneities in the wave distribution. The lack of influence from the Solar Wind's convective electric field upon the location of PCWs indicates that there is no clear relation between the spatial distribution of PCWs and that of pick-up ions.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2012

Saturn's ULF wave foreshock boundary: Cassini observations

Even though the solar wind is highly supersonic, intense ultra-low frequency (ULF) wave activity has been detected in regions just upstream of the bow shocks of magnetized planets. This feature was first observed ahead of the Earth's bow shock, and the corresponding region was called the ULF wave foreshock, which is embedded within the planet's foreshock. The properties as well as the spatial distribution of ULF waves within the Earth's foreshock have been extensively studied over the last three decades and have been explained as a result of plasma instabilities triggered by solar wind ions backstreaming from the bow shock. Since July 2004, the Cassini spacecraft has characterized the Saturnian plasma environment including its upstream region. Since Cassini's Saturn orbit insertion (SOI) in June 2004 through August 2005, we conducted a detailed survey and analysis of observations made by the Vector Helium Magnetometer (VHM). The purpose of the present study is to characterize the properties of waves observed in Saturn's ULF wave foreshock and identify its boundary using single spacecraft techniques. The amplitude of these waves is usually comparable to the mean magnetic field intensity, while their frequencies in the spacecraft frame yields two clearly differentiated types of waves: one with frequencies below the local proton cyclotron frequency (ΩH+) and another with frequencies above ΩH+. All the wave crossings described here, clearly show that these waves are associated to Saturn's foreshock. In particular, the presence of waves is associated with the change in θBn to quasi-parallel geometries. Our results show the existence of a clear boundary for Saturn's ULF wave foreshock, compatible with θBn = 45° surfaces.

astro-ph.EP↗