Sawtooth and dune auroras simultaneously driven by waves around the plasmapause

The dune aurora,at a scale of~30 kilometers,was reported recently using ground camera.The small-scale dune aurora occurs on the duskside and exhibits a monochromatic oscillation in the auroral emission,implying fundamental energy conversions.However,whether the dune auroras correspond to atmospheric waves or are associated with magnetospheric dynamics should be determined.This paper reports a dune aurora that occurred during a storm;further,we demonstrate that it was the substructure of the sawtooth aurora that was generated by plasmapause surface waves.Conjugate observations in the magnetospheric source region suggest that the exohiss waves,which are periodically modulated by the plasmapause surface wave-excited ultralow frequency wave,might be responsible for the generation of the dune aurora.Most reported dune aurora events have occurred simultaneously with sawtooth auroras,suggesting that both are plasmapause-driven cross-scale auroral structures.

Two types of mirror mode waves in the Kronian magnetosheath

A mirror mode wave is a fundamental magnetic structure in the planetary space environment that is persistently compressed by solar wind,especially in the magnetosheath.Mirror modes have been widely identified in the magnetosheaths of the Earth and other planets in the solar system,yet the understanding of mirror mode waves on extraterrestrial planets is not as comprehensive as that on the Earth.Using magnetic field data collected by the Cassini spacecraft,we found peak and dip types according to the magnetic morphology(i.e.,structures with higher or lower magnetic strengths than the background field).Moreover,mirror mode waves and electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves were found one after the other,implying that the two wave modes may evolve into one another in the Kronian magnetosheath.The results indicate that many fundamental plasma processes associated with the mirror mode structure exist in the Kronian magnetosheath.The energy conversion in Saturn’s magnetosheath may provide key insights that will aid in understanding giant planetary magnetospheric processes.

Statistical properties of kinetic-scale magnetic holes in terrestrial space

Kinetic-scale magnetic holes(KSMHs)are structures characterized by a significant magnetic depression with a length scale on the order of the proton gyroradius.These structures have been investigated in recent studies in near-Earth space,and found to be closely related to energy conversion and particle acceleration,wave-particle interactions,magnetic reconnection,and turbulence at the kineticscale.However,there are still several major issues of the KSMHs that need further study—including(a)the source of these structures(locally generated in near-Earth space,or carried by the solar wind),(b)the environmental conditions leading to their generation,and(c)their spatio-temporal characteristics.In this study,KSMHs in near-Earth space are investigated statistically using data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission.Approximately 200,000 events were observed from September 2015 to March 2020.Occurrence rates of such structures in the solar wind,magnetosheath,and magnetotail were obtained.We find that KSMHs occur in the magnetosheath at rates far above their occurrence in the solar wind.This indicates that most of the structures are generated locally in the magnetosheath,rather than advected with the solar wind.Moreover,KSMHs occur in the downstream region of the quasi-parallel shock at rates significantly higher than in the downstream region of the quasi-perpendicular shock,indicating a relationship with the turbulent plasma environment.Close to the magnetopause,we find that the depths of KSMHs decrease as their temporal-scale increases.We also find that the spatial-scales of the KSMHs near the subsolar magnetosheath are smaller than those in the flanks.Furthermore,their global distribution shows a significant dawn-dusk asymmetry(duskside dominating)in the magnetotail.

Upstream proton cyclotron waves: occurrence and amplitude dependence on IMF cone angle at Mars——from MAVEN observations

Proton cyclotron waves(PCWs)can be generated by ion pickup of Martian exospheric particles in the solar wind.The solar wind ion pickup process is highly dependent on the“IMF cone angle”—the angle between the solar wind velocity and the interplanetary magnetic field(IMF),which also plays an important role in the generation of PCWs.Using data from 2.15 Martian years of magnetic field measurements collected by the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution(MAVEN)mission,we have identified 3307 upstream PCW events.Their event number distribution decreases exponentially with their duration.A statistical investigation of the effects of IMF cone angle on the amplitudes and occurrence rates of PCWs reveals a slight tendency of PCWs’amplitudes to decrease with increasing IMF cone angle.The relationship between the amplitude and IMF cone angle is weak,with a correlation coefficient r=–0.3.We also investigated the influence of IMF cone angle on the occurrence rate of PCWs and found that their occurrence rate is particularly high for intermediate IMF cone angles(~18°–42°)even though highly oblique IMF orientation occurs most frequently in the upstream region of the Martian bow shock.We also conclude that these variabilities are not artefacts of temporal coverage biases in MAVEN sampling.Our results demonstrate that whereas IMF cone angle strongly influences the occurrence of PCWs,IMF cone angle may also weakly modulate their amplitudes in the upstream region of Mars.

Observations of loading-unloading process at Saturn's distant magnetotail

Using in-situ measurements from the Cassini spacecraft in 2013, we report an Earth substorm-like loading-unloading process at Saturn's distant magnetotail. We found that the loading process is featured with two distinct processes: a rapid loading process that was likely driven by an internal source and a slow loading process that was likely driven by solar wind. Each of the two loading processes could also individually lead to an unloading process. The rapid internal loading process lasts for ~ 1-2 hours; the solar wind driven loading process lasts for ~ 3-18 hours and the following unloading process lasts for ~1-3 hours. In this letter, we suggest three possible loadingunloading circulations, which are fundamental in understanding the role of solar wind in driving giant planetary magnetospheric dynamics.

Prospects for Jovian seismology with the Lenghu planetary telescope

Jupiter is one of the top priorities for deep space exploration in China and other countries.The structure of Jupiter’s interior,in particular,is a crucial but still unclear scientific topic.This paper discusses current scientific understanding of Jupiter’s interior by summarizing the history of past and current exploration and data analysis.We review recent space-based and ground-based observation methods and analyze their feasibility.To gain new insight into the internal structure of Jupiter,we propose to study Jupiter’s innards by planetary seismology.Ground-based observation,namely the Jupiter Seismologic Interferometer Polarization Imager(SIPI)in Lenghu,will be developed to obtain the Doppler velocity distribution on the surface of Jupiter and identify oscillation signals.Lenghu has observation conditions that are not only exceptional in China but even in the world,capable of providing novel insight into the interior of Jupiter.This will also be the first study in China of the interior of Jupiter using asteroseismology,which has significant implications for China’s plans to explore Jupiter via spacecraft-mounted instruments.

Recent advances in the magnetic reconnection,dipolarization,and auroral processes at giant planets from the perspective of comparative planetology

Magnetic reconnection and dipolarization are crucial processes driving magnetospheric dynamics,including particle energization,mass circulation,and auroral processes,among others.Recent studies have revealed that these processes at Saturn and Jupiter are fundamentally different from the ones at Earth.The reconnection and dipolarization processes are far more important than previously expected in the dayside magnetodisc of Saturn and potentially Jupiter.Dayside magnetodisc reconnection was directly identified by using Cassini measurements(Guo RL et al.,2018b)and was found to be drizzle-like and rotating in the magnetosphere of Saturn(Delamere et al.,2015b;Yao ZH et al.,2017a;Guo RL et al.,2019).Moreover,magnetic dipolarization could also exist at Saturn’s dayside(Yao ZH et al.,2018),which is fundamentally different from the terrestrial situation.These new results significantly improve our understanding of giant planetary magnetospheric dynamics and provide key insights revealing the physics of planetary aurorae.Here,we briefly review these recent advances and their potential implications for future investigations.

THEMIS observation of a magnetotail current sheet flapping wave

A flapping wave was observed by THEMIS-B(P1)and THEMIS-C(P2)probes on the dawn side of the magnetotail,while the solar wind was generally stable.The magnetic activity was quite weak,suggesting that this flapping wave was generated by an internal instability,which normally occurs during magnetic quiet times.Our analysis shows that the flapping wave was propagating downward with a tail-aligned scale of at least 3.7 R E and did not show much change in shape during its propagation from P1 to P2.Correlation analysis employed to estimate the time lag between the corresponding half waveforms of P1 and P2 shows that the propagating velocities along the current sheet normal directions were close to each other in the beginning,but increased linearly later on.The average wavelength of the flapping wave is approximately 4 R E.Theoretical analysis suggests that the ballooning type wave model may not be the mechanism for the observed flapping wave,but that the magnetic double-gradient instability model is a more plausible candidate.

Braking of high-speed flows in the magnetotail:THEMIS joint observations

The motion and deceleration processes of plasma sheet high-speed flows have great significance to magnetospheric particle acceleration,magnetic field perturbation,magnetic flux transport,triggering of substorm,and the current system formation in the magnetotail.From February to April 2009,two satellites of the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms mission,THA and THE,were often separated largely in Z direction,but had small X and Y separations.Such special configuration allows simultaneous observations of highspeed flows at the center and boundary of the plasma sheet.Based on selected case study and statistical analysis,it is found that for about 89%of the events we selected,the probe further away from the neutral sheet observed the high-speed flow earlier than the one close to the center,and the flow is mainly field aligned.And for about 95%events the probe further away from the neutral sheet observed higher X component of the plasma flow.With the hypothesis that parallel flow keeps the same speed during its earthward propagation while central plasma sheet stream uniformly or suddenly brakes on its way to the earth,we deduced the position where the deceleration begins to be between 13 Re and 17 Re downtail,where thenear-earth reconnection is supposed to occur.In addition,our statistical results show that dipolarization fronts observed in the central plasma sheet are more prominent than those observed in the plasma sheet boundary layer ahead of the high-speed flow.

The solar wind plasma upstream of Mars observed by Tianwen-1:Comparison with Mars Express and MAVEN

On the great journey to Mars,China’s first planetary exploration mission,the Tianwen-1 came within 26 million kilometers of Mars from 31 October 2020 to 25 January 2021 and was getting closer to its destination,the red planet,in search of answers to the cataclysmic climate change that occurred in Martian history.Both the escape of the Martian atmosphere and the loss of surface water were firmly influenced by solar activities.Tianwen-1 provided a unique chance to depict the solar wind streams between Earth and Mars during the minimum of Solar Cycle 25.During the three-month cruise phase of Tianwen-1,the solar wind flows were successively observed at Earth,Tianwen-1,and Mars.After the field of view correction and noise reduction,the solar wind velocity and density measured by Tianwen-1 show good agreement with those at Earth and Mars.The results indicate that the performance of the ion analyzer onboard the Tianwen-1 orbiter is reliable and stable.It is worth looking forward to the joint observations of ion escape with other Mars probes in the following Martian years.

Structure and enhanced dielectric temperature stability of BaTiO3- based ceramics by Ca ion B site-doping

Capacitor is an important part of many electronic devices,so the temperature stability as one key parameter of capacitor needs to be improved constantly for meeting the requirements of various application temperature.Here,combined with the X-ray diffraction(XRD),selected area electron diffraction(SAED)and Vienna Ab-initio Simulation Package(VASP)calculation,it was confirmed that Ca ion can substitute the Ti site in the BaTi1-xCaxO3-x[BTC100](0≤x≤0.05)ceramics synthesized by solid-phase method which greatly improved the low-temperature stability of dielectric constant.Moreover,introducing Bi3þand Zn^(2+) into BTC4 to form(1-y)BaTi0.6Ca0.04O2.96-yBi(Zn_(0.5)Ti_(0.5))O_(3)[(1-y)BTC4-yBZT](0.1≤y≤0.2)ceramics can further improve the dielectric-temperature stability by means of diffused phase transition and core-shell structure.Most importantly,the 0.85BTC4-0.15BZT ceramics with a pseudocubic perovskite structure possessed a temperature coefficient of capacitance at 25℃(TCC25℃)being less than±15%over a wide temperature range of 55℃-200℃and a temperate dielectric constant(ε=1060)and low dielectric loss(tanδ=1.5%),which measure up to the higher standard in the current capacitor industry such as X9R requirements.

Pressure gradient evolution in the near-Earth magnetotail at the arrival of BBFs

Using in situ observations from THEMIS A, D and E during the 2008–2011 tail season, we present a statistical study of the evolution of pressure gradients in the near-Earth tail during bursty bulk flow(BBF) convection.We identified 138 substorm BBFs and 2,197 non-substorm BBFs for this study. We found that both the pressure and the BZcomponent of the magnetic field were enhanced at the arrival of BBFs at the spacecraft locations. We suggest that the increase of BZduring non-substorm BBFs is associated with flux pile-up. However, the much stronger enhancement of BZduring substorm BBFs implies the occurrence of magnetic field dipolarization which is caused by both the flux pile-up process and near-Earth current disruption. Furthermore, a bow-wave-like high pressure appears to be formed at the arrival of substorm BBFs,which is responsible for the formation of region-1-sense FACs. The azimuthal pressure gradient associated with the arrival of substorm BBFs lasts for about 5 min. The enhanced pressure gradient associated with the bow waveis caused by the braking and diversion of the Earthward flow in the inner plasma sheet. The results from this statistical study suggest that the braking and azimuthal diversion of BBFs may commonly create azimuthal pressure gradients, which are related to the formation of the FAC of the substorm current wedge.

Evolution of clustered magnetic nulls in a turbulent-like reconnection region in the magnetotail

t Magnetic null points and flux ropes play important roles in the three-dimensional process of magnetic reconnection. In this study, a cluster of null points are reconstructed in the reconnection region in the magnetotail by applying a fitting-reconstruction method to measurements from the Cluster mission. The number of recon- structed null points varies rapidly, presenting a turbulentlike evolution of the magnetic structure. The electron density and the flux of the accelerated electrons were enhanced in this turbulent-like region. During this unstable reconnection process, a B-As-B null structure was formed, showing flux rope features and resembling a secondary island in the observation.

Structure and electrical properties of ternary BiFeO_(3)-BaTiO_(3)-PbTiO_(3) high-temperature piezoceramics

In the current work,the bulk ternary(0.85-x)BiFeO3-xBaTiO3-0.15PbTiO3(BF-BTx-PT,x=0.08-0.35)system has been studied as a potential high-temperature piezoceramics.Samples with various content of BT were prepared via solid-state route,and pure perovskite phase was confirmed by X-ray diffraction.The temperature dependence of dielectric constants confirmed the decrease of Curie temperature with increasing BT content.It was found that the morphotropic phase boundary(MPB)composition of BF-BTx-PT ceramics was in the vicinity of x=0.15,which exhibits optimal properties with piezoelectric constant d33 of 60 pC/N,high Curie temperature of 550℃,and low sintering temperature of 920℃.Measurements also showed that the depoling temperature was 300℃,about 150℃higher than that of commercialized PZT ceramics,which indicated good temperature stability.BF-BTx-PT ceramics are promising candidates for high temperature applications.

Regulating energy storage performances of 0.85NaNbO_(3)-0.15Bi(Zn_(2/3)Nb_(1/3))O_(3) ceramics using BaTiO_(3)

Recently,NaNbO_(3)-based ceramics with excellent energy storage performances(ESPs)and fast chargedischarge characteristics have attracted great attention.In this case,BaTiO_(3) modified 0.85NaNbO_(3)-0.15Bi(Zn_(2/3)Nb_(1/3))O_(3)(0.85NN-0.15BZN-yBT)ceramics were designed and successfully fabricated using solid state synthesis.The discharge storage density of the ceramics increases from 1.22 J/cm^(3) at y=0-1.84 J/cm^(3) at y=8%,which is 1.5 times higher than pure 0.85NN-0.15BZN ceramics.This ceramic reveals excellent temperature stability up to 150℃,good discharge cycling after 10^(5) cycles and high discharge speed of 2.0μs,broadening the scope of NaNbO_(3)-based ceramics for energy storage applications.

Grain boundary effects on piezoelectric properties of the core–shell-structured BaTiO_(3)@TiO_(2) ceramics

Grain boundary effect on BaTiO_(3) has been widely investigated for several decades.However,all of them tailored the grain boundary by grain size of BaTiO_(3).In this case,a direct way was introduced to modify the grain boundary by coating technique to investigate the role of grain boundary in ferroelectric materials.Nonferroelectric phase TiO_(2) was employed to investigate grain boundary effects on the electrical properties of BaTiO3 piezoelectric ceramics.TiO_(2) coating can result in the reduction of piezoelectric and ferroelectric properties and the annealing process in oxygen can increase piezoelectric behavior of pure BaTiO3 due to valence state of Ti ions while that remains for Ti-modified composition possibly due to the increased grain boundary effect by impedance analysis.Compared with ferroelectric grain,grain boundary plays a critical role to impact the electrical properties of perovskite-type ferroelectric materials.