The Solar Wind Interactions With Mercury, Moon, and Asteroids: Effect on Evolution of Planetary Surfaces

Details The Solar Wind Interactions With Mercury, Moon, and Asteroids: Effect on Evolution of Planetary Surfaces The Solar Wind Interactions With Mercury, Moon, and Asteroids: Effect on Evolution of Planetary Surfaces

May 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007agusmsm34a..07c&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2007, abstract #SM34A-07

Physics

5421 Interactions With Particles And Fields, 5470 Surface Materials And Properties, 6235 Mercury, 6250 Moon (1221)

Scientific paper

When the solar wind flows toward the Moon, there is no forewarning for the streaming plasma that it is about to encounter an obstacle. Thus, solar wind particles strike the lunar surface and interact directly with the lunar regolith. A solar wind ion implants itself in the grain of regolith that it comes into contact with. As the ion enters the grain, it breaks chemical bonds in the grain lattice until it loses enough energy to come to rest. Therefore, the solar wind is retained in trace amounts in the lunar regolith. As the deposited energy recoils through the lattice, particles may be ejected from the surface of the grain into the thin lunar exosphere (sputtering). Thus, solar wind sputtering has a major influence on the lunar atmosphere. We review how the solar wind interaction with the Moon affects the evolution of the lunar surface, specifically the physical, chemical, and spectral modifications of the surface from exposure to the solar wind as found in analysis of Apollo samples, laboratory experiments, and remote sensing. Finally, we compare the solar wind interaction with the Moon to similar bodies, e.g. Mercury and asteroids, to examine how magnetic fields affect the solar wind interaction.

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