The Magnetic “Birdsong” of the Smallest Planet

Illustration of BepiColombo and GEOTAIL observing chorus radiation together. Credit - Mercury image: NASA / Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory / Carnegie Institution of Washington BepiColombo spacecraft image: ESA, Earth Image: NASA

BepiColombo is slowly uncovering more and more fun facts about Mercury as it continues its preliminary mission. One of the more interesting things found so far is a magnetic “chorus” that appears similar to a phenomenon found in Earth’s much larger magnetic field. A new paper in Nature Communications from the researchers responsible for the probe’s Mio instrument that is studying Mercury’s magnetic field describes what could be thought of as a form of magnetic birdsong.

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