Response of the lunar alkali exosphere to plasma

Physics

Scientific paper

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2780 Solar Wind Interactions With Unmagnetized Bodies, 5405 Atmospheres (0343, 1060), 5421 Interactions With Particles And Fields, 6250 Moon (1221)

Scientific paper

The response of the lunar exosphere to plasma when the Moon traverses the terrestrial magnetosphere is investigated. A published series of ground-based observations of the lunar sodium emission were obtained while Lunar Prospector was in orbit around the Moon (Potter et al., 2000), and the data of column density and temperature are correlated to LP in situ plasma measurements. Results from this analysis indicate that the variability of the observed column density correlates to the total electron flux measured by Lunar Prospector, which is a proxy for the ion sputtering flux. However, direct ion sputtering is found to be relatively inefficient and cannot explain the evident regulation of the total column by ions. We conclude that the efficiency of the photon- stimulated source is augmented by ion surface impact. Ion-enhanced PSD becomes the leading source of the exosphere in the magnetosheath and solar wind, while shielding of ions by the Earth's magnetosphere emphasizes release of sodium by impact vaporization

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