The magnetic field in the solar wind is not constant but varies in direction and strength. One of these variations shows a strong local reduction of the magnetic field strength and is called a magnetic hole. These holes are usually an indication that there is, or has been, a temperature difference in the plasma of the solar wind, with the temperature along the magnetic field lower than perpendicular. The MMS spacecraft data have been used to study the characteristics of these holes near Earth.

Recently, the two-spacecraft mission BepiColombo was launched to explore Mercury. To measure the magnetic field precisely, in-flight calibration of the magnetometer offset is needed. Usually, the offset is evaluated from magnetic field observations in the solar wind. Since one of the spacecraft will remain within Mercury's magnetic environment, we examine an alternative calibration method. We show that this method is applicable and may be a valuable tool to determine the offset accurately.

Currents are believed to exist in mirror-mode structures and to be self-consistent with the magnetic field depression. Bipolar currents are found in two ion-scale magnetic dips. The bipolar current in a small-size magnetic dip is mainly contributed by electron velocities, which is mainly formed by the magnetic gradient–curvature drift. For another large-size magnetic dip, the bipolar current is mainly caused by an ion bipolar velocity, which can be explained by the ion drift motions.

The magnetic field that is carried by the solar wind slowly decreases in strength as it moves further from the Sun. However, there are sometimes localized decreases in the magnetic field strength, called magnetic holes. These are small structures where the magnetic field strength decreases to less than 50 % of the surroundings and the plasma density increases. This paper presents a statistical study of the behaviour of these holes between Mercury and Venus using MESSENGER data.

The behaviour of mirror mode waves in Venus's magnetosheath is investigated for solar minimum and maximum conditions. It is shown that the total observational rate of these waves does not change much; however, the distribution over the magnetosheath is significantly different, as well as the growth and decay of the waves during these different solar activity conditions.

We have analysed the magnetic field measurements performed on the ROSETTA orbiter and the lander PHILAE during PHILAE's descent to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on 12 November 2014. We observed a new type of low-frequency wave with amplitudes of ~ 3 nT, frequencies of 20–50 mHz, wavelengths of ~ 300 km, and propagation velocities of ~ 6 km s⁻¹. The waves are generated in a ~ 100 km region around the comet a show a highly correlated behaviour, which could only be determined by two-point observations.

The solar wind magnetic field drapes around the active nucleus of comet 67P/CG, creating a magnetosphere. The solar wind density increases and with that the pressure, which compresses the magnetosphere, increasing the magnetic field strength near Rosetta. The higher solar wind density also creates more ionization through collisions with the gas from the comet. The new ions are picked-up by the magnetic field and generate mirror-mode waves, creating low-field high-density "bottles" near 67P/CG.

We present a first report on magnetic field measurements made in the coma of comet 67P/C-G in its low-activity state. The plasma environment is dominated by quasi-coherent, large-amplitude, compressional magnetic field oscillations around 40mHz, differing from the observations at strongly active comets where waves at the cometary ion gyro-frequencies are the main feature. We propose a cross-field current instability associated with the newborn cometary ions as a possible source mechanism.

We discuss three flybys (within an 8-day time span) of comet 1P/Halley by VEGA 1, 2 and Giotto. Looking at two different plasma phenomena: mirror mode waves and field line draping; we study the differences in SW--comet interaction between these three flybys. We find that on this time scale (comparable to Rosetta's orbits) there is a significant difference, both caused by changing outgassing rate of the comet and changes in the solar wind. We discuss implications for Rosetta RPC observations.