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| Titel |
Low-energy ions: More common than we thought around Earth, Mars and Titan |
| VerfasserIn |
M. André, C. M. Cully, H. Opgenoorth, D. Andrews, J.-E. Wahlund, H. Nilsson, G. Stenberg |
| Konferenz |
EGU General Assembly 2012
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| Medientyp |
Artikel
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| Sprache |
Englisch
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| Digitales Dokument |
PDF |
| Erschienen |
In: GRA - Volume 14 (2012) |
| Datensatznummer |
250058866
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| Zusammenfassung |
| Ions with energies less than tens of eV originate from the Terrestrial ionosphere and from
several planets and moons in the solar system. The low energy indicates the origin of the
plasma but also severely complicates detection of the positive ions onboard sunlit
spacecraft at higher altitudes, which often become positively charged to several
tens of Volts. We use the Cluster spacecraft and a recently developed technique
based on the detection of the wake behind a charged spacecraft in a supersonic
ion flow. Recent results from this technique show that low-energy ions typically
dominate the density in large regions of the Terrestrial magnetosphere, both on
the dayside, in the polar regions, and on the nightside. We compare with recent
observations around Mars and the moon Titan and conclude that cold plasma is common
also around other celestial bodies. The loss of this low-energy plasma to the solar
wind is one of the primary pathways for atmospheric escape from planets in our
solar system. Earth, Mars and Titan all lose of the order of 1025 to 1026 ions/s. |
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