Flux Rope Generation at Mercury

At Mercury, Kidder et al. [2008] predicted the development of reconnection in association with flux ropes similar to those at Earth, but on a time scale of minutes and a closer radial distance of 3-5 Mercury radii. Additionally, with geometry similar to ground-based observations, much of Mercury's dayside magnetic field can be eroded and enhanced plumes of sodium ions outflow at high latitudes into the solar wind during southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). This supports the theory that such high latitude enhancements are controlled by IMF-regulated magnetospheric processes.