Here we present a useful tool to diagnose the bow shock condition around planets on basis of magnetic field observations. From the upstream and downstream shock normal angle of the magnetic field, it is possible to approximate the relation between compression ratio, Alfvenic Mach number and the solar wind plasma beta. The tool is particularly helpful to study the solar wind conditions and bow shock characteristics during the planetary flybys of the ongoing BepiColombo mission.

Revealing the nature of Mercury’s internal magnetic field is one of the primary goals of the BepiColombo mission. Besides the parametrization of the magnetic field contributions, the application of a robust inversion method is of major importance. The present work provides an overview of the most commonly used inversion methods and shows that Capon’s method as well as the Tikhonov regularization enable a high-precision determination of Mercury’s internal magnetic field up to the fifth degree.

On 15 October 2020, BepiColombo used Venus as a gravity assist to change its orbit to reach Mercury in late 2021. During this passage of Venus, the spacecraft entered into Venus's magnetotail at a distance of 70 Venus radii from the planet. We have studied the magnetic field and plasma data and find that Venus's magnetotail is highly active. This is caused by strong activity in the solar wind, where just before the flyby a coronal mass ejection interacted with the magnetophere of Venus.

The concept of electromotive force appears in various electromagnetic applications in geophysical and astrophysical fluid studies. The electromotive force is being recognized as a useful tool to construct a more complete picture of turbulent space plasma and has the potential to test for the fundamental processes of dynamo mechanism in space.

In this work we present the first analytical magnetosheath plasma flow model for the space environment around Mercury. The proposed model is relatively simple to implement and provides the possibility to trace the flow lines inside the Hermean magnetosheath. It can help to determine the the local plasma conditions of a spacecraft in the magnetosheath exclusively on the basis of the upstream solar wind parameters.

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.

Identification of a large-amplitude Alfvén wave decaying into a pair of ion-acoustic and daughter Alfvén waves is one of the major goals in the observational studies of space plasma nonlinearity. Growth-rate maps may serve as a useful tool for predictions of the wavevector spectrum of density or magnetic field fluctuations in various scenarios for the wave–wave coupling processes developing at different stages in space plasma turbulence.

The systematic error of calibrated fluxgate magnetometer data is studied for a spinning spacecraft. The major error comes from the offset uncertainty when the ambient magnetic field is low, while the error represents the combination of non-orthogonality, misalignment to spacecraft reference direction, and gain when the ambient field is high. The results are useful in developing future high-precision magnetometers and an error estimate in scientific studies using magnetometer data.

The Capon method serves as a powerful and robust data analysis tool when working on various kinds of ill-posed inverse problems. Besides the analysis of waves, the method can be used in a generalized way to compare actual measurements with theoretical models, such as Mercury's magnetic field analysis. In view to the BepiColombo mission this work establishes a mathematical basis for the application of Capon's method to analyze Mercury's internal magnetic field in a robust and manageable way.