MESSENGER observations of the energization and heating of protons in the near‐Mercury magnetotail

The energization and heating processes for protons in the near-Mercury tail are examined with MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) observations. In a case study, suprathermal proton particle flux (STPF) and proton temperature are observed to be clearly enhanced during near-Mercury substorm dipolarizations, indicating the proton energization and heating processes. STPF and proton temperature distributions in near-Mercury central plasma sheets display dawn-dusk asymmetries, with higher values in the dawnside plasma sheet, i.e., postmidnight, than in the duskside, i.e., premidnight. Further investigations reveal that these asymmetries are more prominent during active periods in Mercury's magnetosphere, as compared to quiet periods. Magnetic field variations in the Z(MSM) component display a similar feature, with variations being more prominent on the dawnside than the duskside during active periods. We propose that the dawn-dusk asymmetry in the distributions of protons could be due to the fact that more substorm dipolarizations were initiated on the dawnside of Mercury's magnetotail.