Mercury's helium exosphere after Mariner 10's third encounter

Physics

Scientific paper

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Atmospheric Models, Exosphere, Mariner 10 Space Probe, Mercury (Planet), Planetary Atmospheres, Solar Wind, Helium, Magnetopause, Outgassing, Planetary Magnetospheres, Surface Temperature, Terminator Lines, Ultraviolet Spectroscopy, Mercury, Mariner 10, Helium, Solar Wind, Atmosphere, Exosphere, Magnetosphere

Scientific paper

From a comparison of the Mariner 10 third encounter UV spectrometer data with intensities generated from a newly constructed model exosphere, a new value of 4.5 x 10 to the -4th power for the fraction of the solar wind He(++) flux to be intercepted and captured by Mercury's magnetosphere, if the observed He atmosphere is maintained by the solar wind, has been derived. If an internal source for He prevails, the corresponding upper bound for the global outgassing rate is estimated to be 4.5 x 10 to the 22nd power/s. These values differ from those given earlier because of the present use of a surface temperature distribution satisfying the heat equation over Mercury's entire surface which employs Mariner-10-determined mean surface thermal characteristics. The mean standoff distance of Mercury's magnetopause averaged over Mercury's orbit is also used. Agreement between the observed and calculated intensities is found to be good. Minor discrepancies on the nightside of the terminator are explicable in terms of differences between actual and computed temperatures and scale height structure changes.

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