Shock-like Magnetic Enhancements Generated by Kelvin–Helmholtz Instability above Weakly Magnetized Bodies
學年 114
學期 2
出版（發表）日期 2026-03-02
作品名稱 Shock-like Magnetic Enhancements Generated by Kelvin–Helmholtz Instability above Weakly Magnetized Bodies
作品名稱（其他語言）
著者 Shu-Hua Lai; Kaiti Wang; Ya-Hui Yang
單位
出版者
著錄名稱、卷期、頁數 The Astrophysical Journal Letters 999(2),p. L27
摘要 Shock-like magnetic field structures above weakly magnetized bodies such as the Moon have been reported for more than half a century and represent a key long-standing feature of their solar-wind interactions. Yet their physical origin has remained without a satisfactory explanation, particularly regarding their steepened profiles and high-altitude extension. Here we show that a long-overlooked nonlinear branch of the Kelvin–Helmholtz instability (KHI) naturally produces these localized external magnetic enhancements. Using magnetohydrodynamic simulations constrained by Lunar Prospector (LP) observations, we demonstrate that velocity shear at the solar-wind–crustal-anomaly interface can trigger a KHI whose nonlinear evolution generates outwardpropagating fast-mode shocks that are distinct from the familiar vortex-type KHI waves. These KHI-driven shocks reproduce the LP-observed amplitude and morphology of lunar magnetic enhancements extending hundreds of kilometers above the surface. Two distinct nonlinear KHI regimes, one shock-dominated and one vortex-dominated, together provide a unified framework that explains both the morphological diversity and the wide range of amplitudes of localized magnetic enhancements observed above the Moon and can be applied to other weakly magnetized bodies, revealing a previously unrecognized mechanism governing solar-wind interactions with crustal magnetic anomalies across the solar system.
關鍵字 Solar wind; Planetary magnetosphere; Magnetohydrodynamics; Space plasmas; Lunar magnetic fields; The Moon; Mars; Shocks
語言 en
ISSN
期刊性質 國外
收錄於 SCI Scopus
產學合作 國內
通訊作者 Shu-Hua Lai
審稿制度 是
國別 GBR
公開徵稿
出版型式 ,電子版
相關連結

機構典藏連結 ( http://tkuir.lib.tku.edu.tw:8080/dspace/handle/987654321/128587 )