Monte-Carlo simulation of Mercury's exosphere

Details Monte-Carlo simulation of Mercury's exosphere Monte-Carlo simulation of Mercury's exosphere

Jul 2003

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003icar..164....1w&link_type=abstract

Icarus, Volume 164, Issue 1, p. 1-13.

Other

41

Scientific paper

Because of its proximity to the Sun and its small size, Mercury has not been able to retain its atmosphere and only a thin exosphere surrounds the planet. The exospheric pressure at the planetary surface is approximately 10-10 mbar, set by the Mariner 10 occultation experiment. The existence of gaseous species H, He, and O has been established by Mariner 10. In addition Na, K, and Ca have been observed by ground based instrumentation. Other elements are expected to be found in Mercury's exosphere since the total pressure of the known species is almost two orders of magnitude less than the exospheric pressure.
It is intended to measure these exospheric particle densities in situ with an instrument on board of ESA's BepiColombo Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO) spacecraft. Since the expected exospheric densities are very small we developed a Monte-Carlo computer model to investigate if such a measurement is feasible along the MPO spacecraft orbit. We model energy and ejection angle distributions of the particles at the surface, with the emission process determining the actual distribution functions. Our model follows the trajectory of each particle by numerical integration until the particle hits Mercury's surface again or escapes from the calculation domain. Using a large set of these trajectories bulk parameters of the exospheric gas are derived, e.g., particle densities for various atomic and molecular species. Our study suggests that a mass spectrometric measurement is feasible and, at least at MPO's periherm, all species that are released from the surface will be observed.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Monte-Carlo simulation of Mercury's exosphere 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 Monte-Carlo simulation of Mercury's exosphere, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Monte-Carlo simulation of Mercury's exosphere will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1134308