MAVEN observation of an obliquely propagating low-frequency wave upstream of Mars

Abstract

We report Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission observations of a large amplitude low-frequency plasma wave that propagated oblique to the ambient magnetic field upstream of Mars along with a non-solar-wind plasma component that had a flow velocity perpendicular to the magnetic field. We consider nine possibilities for this wave that include various combinations of its propagation direction, polarization in the solar wind frame, and ion source responsible for its generation. Using the observed wave parameters and the measured plasma parameters as constraints, we uniquely identify the wave by systematically discarding these possibilities. We determine that the wave is a right-hand polarized wave that propagated upstream in the solar wind frame. We find two possibilities for the ion source that can be responsible for this wave generation. They are either newly born pickup protons or reflected solar wind protons from the bow shock. We determine that the observed non-solar-wind component is not responsible for the wave generation, and it is likely that the non-solar-wind component was merely perturbed by the passage of the wave.