Protons in the near-lunar wake observed by the Sub-keV Atom Reflection Analyzer on board Chandrayaan-1

Futaana, Y.; Barabash, S.; Wieser, M.; Holmström, M.; Bhardwaj, A.; Dhanya, M. B.; Sridharan, R.; Wurz, P.; Vorburger, A.; Asamura, K. (2010). Protons in the near-lunar wake observed by the Sub-keV Atom Reflection Analyzer on board Chandrayaan-1. Journal of geophysical research, 115(A10), n/a-n/a. American Geophysical Union 10.1029/2010ja015264

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Significant proton fluxes were detected in the near‐wake region of the Moon by an ion mass spectrometer on board Chandrayaan‐1. The energy of these nightside protons is slightly higher than the energy of the solar wind protons. The protons are detected close to the lunar equatorial plane at a 140° solar zenith angle, that is, ∼50° behind the terminator at a height of 100 km. The protons come from just above the local horizon and move along the magnetic field in the solar wind reference frame. We compare the observed proton flux with the predictions from analytical models of an electrostatic plasma expansion into a vacuum. The observed velocity is higher by a factor of 2 to 3 than the velocity predicted by analytical models. The simple analytical models cannot explain the observed ion dynamics along the magnetic field in the vicinity of the Moon

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute > Space Research and Planetary Sciences
08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute

UniBE Contributor:

Wurz, Peter, Vorburger, Audrey Helena

Subjects:

500 Science > 520 Astronomy
600 Technology > 620 Engineering

ISSN:

0148-0227

Publisher:

American Geophysical Union

Language:

English

Submitter:

Dora Ursula Zimmerer

Date Deposited:

09 Jun 2021 14:21

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:49

Publisher DOI:

10.1029/2010ja015264

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/154113

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/154113

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