Solar Wind: Interaction With Planets

Abstract

The interaction between the solar wind and planetary bodies in our solar system has been investigated since well before the space age. The study of the aurora borealis and australis was a feature of the Enlightenment and many of the biggest names in science during that period had studied the aurora. Many of the early scientific discoveries that emerged from the burgeoning space program in the 1950s and 1960s were related to the solar wind and its interaction with planets, starting with the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts in 1958. With the advent of deep space missions, such as Venera 4, Pioneer 10, and the twin Voyager spacecraft, the interaction of the solar wind other planets was investigated and has evolved into a sub-field closely allied to planetary science. The variety in solar system objects, from rocky planets with thick atmospheres, to airless bodies, to comets, to giant planets, is reflected in the richness in the physics found in planetary magnetospheres and the solar wind interaction. Studies of the solar wind-planet interaction has become a consistent feature of more recent space missions such as Cassini-Huygens (Saturn), Juno (Jupiter), New Horizons (Pluto) and Rosetta (67/P Churyumov–Gerasimenko), as well more dedicated missions in near-Earth space, such as Cluster and Magnetosphere Multiscale. The field is now known by various terms, including space (plasma) physics and solar-terrestrial physics, but it is an interdisciplinary science involving plasma physics, electromagnetism, radiation physics, and fluid mechanics and has important links with other fields of space science, including solar physics, planetary aeronomy, and planetary geophysics. Increasingly, the field is relying on high-performance computing and methods from data science to answer important questions and to develop predictive capabilities. The article explores the origins of the field, examines discoveries made during the heyday of the space program to the late 1970s and 1980s, and other hot topics in the field.