Jets at Mars and their dependence on the upstream conditions

Sammanfattning

Magnetosheath jets are plasma entities of relatively high dynamic pressure, which are often found behind planetary bow shocks. These shocks are formed when a large enough obstacle is immersed in the supersonic solar wind. At Earth, it is already well studied how different solar wind parameters affect the generation of jets. However, with the recent confirmation of jets in other space environments in 2023, similar studies can now be done for planets other than Earth. This thesis presents a first study on how solar wind parameters shape jet generation at Mars and compares the results with the terrestrial environment. It was found that, qualitatively, the relations between jet generation and certain solar wind parameters (velocity, magnetic field, and cone angle) are comparable to Earth. Jet generation is also significantly higher behind the quasi-parallel bow shock compared to the quasi-perpendicular one, especially for regions where the angle between the bow shock normal vector and the magnetic field direction is less than 25°. The thesis includes a short review of the terrestrial and Martian magnetic environments, as well as details on the MAVEN spacecraft. Afterwards, the analysis workflow is described, the results are presented, and jet generation at Earth and Mars are compared. Finally, the results are summarized, and ways to further improve and expand this study are listed.