STELLAR WIND INFLUENCE ON PLANETARY DYNAMOS

We examine the possible influence of early stellar wind conditions on the evolution of planetary dynamo action. In our model, the dynamo operates within a significant ambient magnetospheric magnetic field generated by the interaction between the stellar wind and the planetary magnetic field. This provides a negative feedback mechanism which quenches the dynamo growth. The external magnetic field magnitude which the dynamo experiences, and thus the strength of the quenching, depends on the stellar wind dynamic pressure. As this pressure significantly changes during stellar evolution, we argue that under early stellar system conditions the coupling between the stellar wind and the interior dynamics of a planet is much more important than has been thought up to now. We demonstrate the effects of the feedback coupling in the course of stellar evolution with a planet at a similar distance to the central star as Mercury is to the Sun.