Magnetospheric Studies: A Requirement for Addressing Interdisciplinary Mysteries in the Ice Giant Systems

• DOI: 10.1007/s11214-020-00696-5
• Publication Date: 2020-06-26T18:49:02Z
• Authors: P. Kollmann; I. Cohen; R. C. Allen; G. Clark; E. Roussos; S. Vines; W. Dietrich; J. Wicht; I. de Pater; K. D. Runyon; R. Cartwright; A. Masters; D. Brain; K. Hibbits; B. Mauk; M. Gkioulidou; A. Rymer; R. McNutt; V. Hue; S. Stanley; P. Brandt
• Keywords: 13. Climate action; 0201 Astronomical and Space Sciences; 0103 physical sciences; Astronomy & Astrophysics; 01 natural sciences

AbstractUranus and Neptune are the least-explored planets in our Solar System. This paper summarizes mysteries about these incredibly intriguing planets and their environments spurred by our limited observations fromVoyager 2and Earth-based systems. Several of these observations are either inconsistent with our current understanding built from exploring other planetary systems, or indicate such unique characteristics of these Ice Giants that they leave us with more questions than answers. This paper specifically focuses on the value of all aspects of magnetospheric measurements, from the radiation belt structure to plasma dynamics to coupling to the solar wind, through a future mission to either of these planets. Such measurements have large interdisciplinary value, as demonstrated by the large number of mysteries discussed in this paper that cover other non-magnetospheric disciplines, including planetary interiors, atmospheres, rings, and moons.