Two spacecraft study the magnetic field of Venus

Two spacecraft, BepiColumbo and Solar Orbiter, are now on new missions to learn more about Venus and its magnetic field. These two spaceships actually have different visions, but they both pass through the planet, which is nicknamed the evening star.

When spacecraft are launched to visit distant planets in the solar system, they rarely travel directly from Earth to their targets. Due to planetary orbits and fuel limitations, spacecraft often utilize other planets they pass to gain gravity assistance to aid in their journey.

Because of this, spacecraft often make transplanetary flights which are not the main focus of their studies. This also happened to BepiColombu, who was flown to study Mercury and the Solar Orbiter, which was supposed to study the Sun.

Researchers do not waste the opportunity to study the planets they pass. Coincidentally, BepiColumbo and Solar Orbiter both flew past Venus in a few days in August 2021. This allowed researchers to see Venus from two different positions using eight different sensors.

Not only studying the planet, researchers are also interested in the planet’s magnetic field. This is because, unlike Earth, Venus generates an intrinsic magnetic field, but the interaction of the solar wind and its atmosphere produces what is called an induced magnetosphere.

Solar Orbiter observed the solar wind approaching Venus, while BepiColombo observed a magnetically induced tail. According to Moa Persson of the University of Tokyo, who wrote a paper about this research, said the double observation is very valuable because the solar wind conditions experienced by the Solar Orbiter are very stable.

Meanwhile, BepiColombo has a perfect view of various regions within the magnetosheath and magnetosphere, undisturbed by fluctuations from solar activity. It also shows how valuable science bonuses can be when data is collected from spaceships passing by a planet.

“The important results of this study show how turning on sensors during interplanetary flyby and cruise phases can lead to unique science,” said co-author Nicolas Andre, coordinator of the SPIDER Europlanet service at the Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie in Toulouse, France.