Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996dps....28.0604a&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #28, #06.04; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 28, p.1079
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
The structure and escape of Pluto's upper atmosphere is modeled using the Direct Simulation Monte Carlo (DSMC) method. Several atmospheric compositions are studied consisting primarily of N_2 with differing mixing fractions of CH_4 and CO. Radial profiles of temperature, density and species distributions are calculated in a spherically symmetric domain with a varying gravitational body force. Lower boundary conditions are obtained from a hydrostatic, radiative model of Pluto's lower atmosphere (Strobel et al. 1996) and results for pure methane are compared against Trafton's hydrodynamic, extended atmosphere model (Trafton et al. 1987, 1989 and Clarke et al. 1992). Using the DSMC approach the atmosphere is modeled statistically by extrapolating from the motions and collisions of a relatively small number of representative molecules. This method can solve fully viscous, compressible, unsteady flow problems and allows for rarefied and non-LTE effects and the diffusive separation of multi-species gases.
Austin Victor J.
Goldstein David B.
No associations
LandOfFree
Direct Numerical Simulation of Pluto's Extended Atmosphere does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Direct Numerical Simulation of Pluto's Extended Atmosphere, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Direct Numerical Simulation of Pluto's Extended Atmosphere will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1461002