Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2009
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009dps....41.4702t&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #41, #47.02
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Slow hydrodynamic escape has been suggested to produce a large amount of escape of atmospheric particles from Titan's atmosphere, and it has also been used to predict the density and temperature structure of Pluto's upper atmosphere for comparisons to future measurements to be made by the New Horizons mission in July 2015 (Strobel 2008a and Strobel 2008b). Recently, Tucker and Johnson (2009) have shown that for the temperature and density results from Strobel (2008b) a DSMC (Direct Monte Carlo Simulation) shows no evidence of slow hydrodynamic escape. In this work a DSMC model is coupled with an analytical solution to the fluid equations for hydrodynamic escape for assumed densities and temperatures in Pluto's atmosphere (Strobel 2008a). The fluid equations which are applied well below the exobase region can have solutions for a range of escape rates; however, DSMC which is applied in the exobase region is used here to constrain the escape rate for a Pluto like atmosphere normalized to the temperature and density at the lower boundary from Strobel 2008a. We conclude that thermally induced escape must be treated on a particle by particle basis to account for how the speed distribution is populated at the exobase. Such results are critical to describing escape for a number of solar system bodies.
Strobel, D.F. 2008a, N2 escape rates from Pluto's atmosphere. Icarus 193, 612-619.
Strobel, D.F. 2008b, Titan's hydrodynamically escaping atmosphere. Icarus 193, 588-594.
Strobel, D.F. 2009, Titan's hydrodynamically escaping atmosphere: Escape rates and the structure of the exobase region. Icarus 202, 632-641.
Tucker, O.J., Johnson, R.E. 2009, Thermally driven escape atmospheric escape: Monte Carlo simulation for Titan's atmosphere. Planet Space Sci. doi:10.1016/j.pss.2009.06.003
Cassidy Thomas
Erwin Justin
Johnson Rachael
Tucker Orenthal
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