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Science 16 July 1993:
Vol. 261. no. 5119, pp. 331 - 334
DOI: 10.1126/science.261.5119.331

Articles

Magnetic Field Signatures Near Galileo's Closest Approach to Gaspra

M. G. Kivelson 1, L. F. Bargatze 2, K. K. Khurana 2, D. J. Southwood 3, R. J. Walker 2, and P. J. Coleman Jr. 1

1 Department of Earth and Space Sciences and the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024
2 Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90024
3 Department of Physics, Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine, London SW7 2BZ, United Kingdom

Two large magnetic field rotations were recorded by the spacecraft Galileo 1 minute before and 2 minutes after its closest approach to the asteroid Gaspra. The timing and the geometry of the field changes suggest a connection with Gaspra, and the events can be interpreted as the result of the draping of the solar wind field around a magnetospheric obstacle. Gaspra's surface field is inferred to be within an order of magnitude of Earth's surface field, and its magnetic moment per unit mass is in the range observed for iron meteorites and highly magnetized chondrites. The location of the magnetic signatures suggests that perturbations are carried by waves in the magnetosonic-whistler mode with wavelengths between electron and ion gyro radii.

Submitted on January 29, 1993
Accepted on May 27, 1993


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Deimos: An Obstacle to the Solar Wind.
K. Sauer, E. Dubinin, K. Baumgartel, and A. Bogdanov (1995)
Science 269, 1075-1078
   Abstract »    PDF »
A Magnetohydrodynamic Model of Solar Wind Interaction with Asteroid Gaspra.
K. Baumgartel, K. Sauer, and A. Bogdanov (1994)
Science 263, 653-655
   Abstract »    PDF »



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Science. ISSN 0036-8075 (print), 1095-9203 (online)