Physics
Scientific paper
Feb 1999
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999stin...9954447s&link_type=abstract
Technical Report, P-542
Physics
Mercury (Planet), Moon, Potassium, Sodium, Mercury Atmosphere, Lunar Atmosphere, Desorption, Planetary Magnetotails, Planetary Magnetic Fields, Solar Position, Magnetopause
Scientific paper
A summary discussion of recent sodium and potassium observations for the atmospheres of the Moon and Mercury is presented with primary emphasis on new full-disk images that have become available for sodium. For the sodium atmosphere, image observations for both the Moon and Mercury are fitted with model calculations (1) that have the same source speed distribution, one recently measured for electron-stimulated desorption and thought to apply equally well to photon-stimulated desorption, (2) that have similar average surface sodium fluxes, about 2.8 x 105 to 8.9 x 105 atoms cm-2s-1 for the Moon and approximately 3.5 x 105 to 1.4 x 106 atoms cm-2s-1 for Mercury, but (3) that have very different distributions for the source surface area. For the Moon, a sunlit hemispherical surface source of between approximately 5.3 x 1022 to 1.2 x 1023 atoms/s is required with a spatial dependence at least as sharp as the square of the cosine of the solar zenith angle. For Mercury, a time dependent source that varies from 1.5 x 1022 to 5.8 x l022 atoms/s is required which is confined to a small surface area located at, but asymmetrically distributed about, the subsolar point. The nature of the Mercury source suggest that the planetary magnetopause near the subsolar point acts as a time varying and partially protective shield through which charged particles may pass to interact with and liberate gas from the planetary surface. Suggested directions for future research activities are discussed.
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