Thermally-driven Escape From An Atmosphere: Transition From Jeans To Hydrodynamic Escape

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy

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Scientific paper

The transition in the nature of thermally-induced atmospheric loss from escape on a molecule by molecules basis (Jeans escape), to an organized outflow (hydrodynamic escape) is calculated using a direct simulation Monte Carlo method. When the heating layer is well below the exobase in a 1D spherically symmetric atmosphere, this transition is shown to occur over a surprisingly narrow range of Jeans parameters near λ 2-3: λ= the gravitational energy of the molecules / kT. This critical Jeans parameter roughly corresponds to the upper limit for isentropic, supersonic outflow. For larger Jeans parameters, the escape rate never deviates significantly from the familiar Jeans rate evaluated at the nominal exobase, contrary to what has been suggested for Pluto and Titan. Scaling by the Jeans parameter, the results presented can be applied to thermal escape from solar and extrasolar planetary bodies.

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