Space Physics Seminar spring-2019

In February 11, 1982 a strange magnetic signature was measured in the orbit of Venus by PVO. This event (dubbed an Interplanetary Magnetic Field Enhancement or IFE) was measured as a thorn-like enhancement in the magnetic field. Further investigation found a surprising correlation between the rate of IFEs measured around Venus and the triennial perihelion arrival of the asteroid 2201 Oljato. In this talk, we will discuss how charged co-orbiting dust clouds around asteroids like Oljato could produce massive perturbations in the IMF by obstructing the flow of the highly conductive solar wind. We will also discuss how IFEs may be related to Magnetospheric Field Enhancements (MFES) (aka 'high-speed jets') measured in the Earth’s magnetosheath. Finally, we will discuss the results of a newly-developed procedure for the rapid and accurate identification of IFEs and MFEs using a neural network.