Abstract
Mercury’s environment is a complex system, resulting from the interaction between the solar wind, magnetosphere, exosphere and surface. A comprehensive description of its characteristics requires a detailed study of these four elements. This paper illustrates and discusses the key processes that are implicated in the strong coupling of the Hermean magnetosphere with the other elements. The magnetosphere of Mercury, frequently called “mini-magnetosphere”, when compared to that of Earth, plays a significant role in controlling the planet source and loss processes, by means of both particle and field interactions. We review the status of our knowledge, and give possible interpretations of the still-limited data set presently available.
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Orsini, S. et al. (2008). Magnetosphere–Exosphere–Surface Coupling at Mercury. In: Balogh, A., Ksanfomality, L., von Steiger, R. (eds) Mercury. Space Sciences Series of ISSI, vol 26. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-77539-5_13
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