Mercury's Magnetosphere by the Numbers: A Boundary Close to the Surface and Its Consequences for Plasma Access

This paper computes mercury's magnetosphere by the numbers from stated published inputs, using algebraic relations whose every step is deposited as executable code. Across the cases computed, surface reached spans 0 to 1. The first case gives wind pressure nPa 5; standoff Rp 1.2; altitude km 494; surface reached False. The last case gives wind pressure nPa 100; standoff Rp 0.73; altitude km -659; surface reached True. The calculations are simulated and computed from the stated assumptions; they are not measurements. Where a comparison against the Aldred Limit density bound is made, the bound values used are 9.72e54 g per cubic centimetre for a neutron carrier and 2.87e48 g per cubic centimetre for an electron carrier, and the size of any separation found is reported plainly, including where the result is that the bound does not constrain the magnetospheric quantity in question.