Fig. 1: Illustration of the current systems in the induced magnetosphere of Mars.

a Diagram of the current systems in the induced magnetosphere. The magnetopause and magnetotail current system is colored green, with the yellow arrows indicating the current direction. This current pattern consists of the bow-shock current (\({J}_{{BS}}\)), the magnetotail current sheet current (\({J}_{{CS}}\)), the sunward/tailward currents (\({J}_{{Sunward}}\) \(/{J}_{{Tailward}}\)), and the ionospheric-induced currents (\({J}_{{In}}\)). For clarity, the currents at the induced magnetospheric boundary that connect with the \({J}_{{In}}\) and \({J}_{{CS}}\) are not shown. In the Mars-Solar-Electric (MSE) coordinate system, the \({X}_{{MSE}}\), \({Y}_{{MSE}}\), and \({Z}_{{MSE}}\) directions are represented by black arrows. The solar wind electric field (\({{{{\bf{E}}}}}_{{{{\bf{SW}}}}}\)) aligns with the \({Z}_{{MSE}}\) direction, and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) aligns with the \({Y}_{{MSE}}\) direction. The direction of the solar wind is indicated by a red arrow, aligned with the \({X}_{{MSE}}\) direction. The shapes of the bow shock, the induced magnetosphere boundary (IMB), and the induced magnetotail (Tail) are denoted by gray, red, and blue shadows, respectively. b The current distribution of \({J}_{x}\) component in the \({{XZ}}_{{MSE}}\) plane, through the meridian plane with a thickness of 0.2 \({R}_{m}\), centered at \({Y}_{{MSE}}=0\). Current (c) and magnetic field (d) slice maps in \({{YZ}}_{{MSE}}\) plane along \({X}_{{MSE}}\) direction. In each slice, arrows represent the direction of current (c) and magnetic field (d) in the \({{YZ}}_{{MSE}}\) plane. The red and magenta lines denote the shape of the bow shock and the induced magnetosphere boundary⁹⁹. The black circle denotes the body of Mars. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.