Energetic neutral atoms from the Earth's subsolar magnetopause

The shocked solar wind in the Earth's magnetosheath becomes nearly stationary at the subsolar magnetopause. At this location, solar wind protons are neutralized by charge exchange with neutral hydrogen atoms at the extreme limits of the Earth's tenuous exosphere. The resulting Energetic Ne...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Geophysical research letters 2010-07, Vol.37 (13), p.n/a
Main Authors: Fuselier, S. A., Funsten, H. O., Heirtzler, D., Janzen, P., Kucharek, H., McComas, D. J., Möbius, E., Moore, T. E., Petrinec, S. M., Reisenfeld, D. B., Schwadron, N. A., Trattner, K. J., Wurz, P.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Astrophysics
Atmospheric sciences
charge exchange
Earth
Earth sciences
Earth, ocean, space
Energetic neutral atoms
Exact sciences and technology
Magnetism
magnetosheath
Planetology
Plasma physics
solar wind
Space
Spacecraft
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Summary:The shocked solar wind in the Earth's magnetosheath becomes nearly stationary at the subsolar magnetopause. At this location, solar wind protons are neutralized by charge exchange with neutral hydrogen atoms at the extreme limits of the Earth's tenuous exosphere. The resulting Energetic Neutral Atoms (ENAs) propagate away from the subsolar region in nearly all directions. Simultaneous observations of hydrogen ENAs from the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) and proton distributions in the magnetosheath from the Cluster spacecraft are used to quantify this charge exchange process. By combining these observations with a relatively simple model, estimates are obtained for the ratio of ENA to shocked solar wind flux (about 10−4) and the exospheric density at distances greater than 10 Earth Radii (RE) upstream from the Earth (about 8 cm−3).
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1029/2010GL044140