Formation of lunar swirls by magnetic field standoff of the solar wind

Glotch, T. D.; Bandfield, J. L.; Lucey, P. G.; Hayne, P. O.; Greenhagen, B. T.; Arnold, Jessica A.; Ghent, R. R.; Paige, D. A.

doi:10.1038/ncomms7189

Cited by 80 publications

(71 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…This includes, in particular, the origin of the dark lanes of the lunar swirls, in agreement with the spectroscopic observations of lunar surface albedo (Pieters et al 1993;Taylor et al 2001;Blewett et al 2007;Kramer et al 2011aKramer et al , 2011bGlotch et al 2015). The in situ observations from plasma instrumentation on board satellites at altitudes from -10 1000 s km include; magnetic and density pile-up, backflow, narrow electrostatic barrier, solitary and lower-hybrid waves, turbulence spectrum, Whistlers, cavity formation, beams, particle pickup, electron heating, ionslowing, reflection and deflection.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

“…Persistent reduced proton flux leads to a "lighter" color, while extra enhanced proton flux leads to an even "darker" appearance. The interplay between the two results in "white wisps" interspersed with narrow "dark lanes" (Blewett et al 2007;Richmond & Hood 2008;Kramer et al 2011a;Glotch et al 2015;Harnett & Kramer 2015).…”

Section: Lunar Swirls and Magnetic Anomaliesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent work (Glotch et al 2015;Harnett & Kramer 2015) on spectral data from the Diviner Lunar Radiometer on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, the Moon Mineralogy Mapper on board Chandrayaan-1 (Kramer et al Figure 1. A graphical summary of the spacecraft observational data (Lin et al 1998;Huixian et al 2005;Wieser et al 2009Wieser et al , 2010Futaana et al 2010;Hashimoto et al 2010;Lue et al 2011;Wang et al 2012;Halekas et al 2014;Yokota et al 2014) of Lunar mini-magnetospheres.…”

Section: Lunar Swirls and Magnetic Anomaliesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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3d Pic Simulations of Collisionless Shocks at Lunar Magnetic Anomalies and Their Role in Forming Lunar Swirls

Bamford

Alves

Cruz

et al. 2016

ApJ

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Investigation of the lunar crustal magnetic anomalies offers a comprehensive long-term data set of observations of small-scale magnetic fields and their interaction with the solar wind. In this paper a review of the observations of lunar mini-magnetospheres is compared quantifiably with theoretical kinetic-scale plasma physics and 3D particlein-cell simulations. The aim of this paper is to provide a complete picture of all the aspects of the phenomena and to show how the observations from all the different and international missions interrelate. The analysis shows that the simulations are consistent with the formation of miniature (smaller than the ion Larmor orbit) collisionless shocks and miniature magnetospheric cavities, which has not been demonstrated previously. The simulations reproduce the finesse and form of the differential proton patterns that are believed to be responsible for the creation of both the "lunar swirls" and "dark lanes." Using a mature plasma physics code like OSIRIS allows us, for the first time, to make a side-by-side comparison between model and space observations. This is shown for all of the key plasma parameters observed to date by spacecraft, including the spectral imaging data of the lunar swirls. The analysis of miniature magnetic structures offers insight into multi-scale mechanisms and kinetic-scale aspects of planetary magnetospheres.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 67%

Section: Lunar Swirls and Magnetic Anomaliesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Lunar Swirls and Magnetic Anomaliesmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

3d Pic Simulations of Collisionless Shocks at Lunar Magnetic Anomalies and Their Role in Forming Lunar Swirls

Bamford

Alves

Cruz

et al. 2016

ApJ

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“…Diviner measures radiance from 0.3 to 400 μm, which can be converted to emissivity to inform us about the bulk silicate mineralogy across the surface of the Moon (Greenhagen et al, ; Paige, Foote, et al, ), as well as the thermophysical properties of the lunar regolith (e.g., Bandfield et al, , ; Elder et al, ; Paige, Siegler, et al, ; Siegler et al, , ; Vasavada et al, ). Diviner has contributed to a better understanding of lunar geology, such as highly silicic features (e.g., Glotch et al, ), crater peak compositions (e.g., Song et al, ), and lunar swirls (e.g., Glotch et al, ) and shown how well Diviner data can complement visible to near‐infrared data, such as the assessment of lunar crystalline plagioclase (e.g., Donaldson Hanna et al, ), examination of volcanics (e.g., Bennett et al, ), and quantification of olivine content (e.g., Arnold et al, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Particle Size Effects on Mid‐Infrared Spectra of Lunar Analog Minerals in a Simulated Lunar Environment

Shirley

Glotch

2019

JGR Planets

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Mid‐infrared spectroscopic analysis of the Moon and other airless bodies requires a full accounting of spectral variation due to the unique thermal environment in airless body regoliths and the substantial differences between spectra acquired under airless body conditions and those measured in an ambient environment on Earth. Because there exists a thermal gradient within the upper hundreds of microns of lunar regolith, the data acquired by the Diviner Lunar Radiometer Experiment are not isothermal with wavelength. While this complication has been previously identified, its effect on other known variables that contribute to spectral variation, such as particle size and porosity, have yet to be well characterized in the laboratory. Here we examine the effect of particle size on mid‐infrared spectra of silicates common to the Moon measured within a simulated lunar environment chamber. Under simulated lunar conditions, decreasing particle size is shown to enhance the spectral contrast of the Reststrahlen bands and transparency features, as well as shift the location of the Christiansen feature to longer wavelengths. This study shows that these variations are detectable at Diviner spectral resolution and emphasizes the need for simulated environment laboratory data sets, as well as hyperspectral mid‐infrared instruments on future missions to airless bodies.

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“…2 The exposure of surfaces to immense heat fluxes in magnetic fusion devices remains one of the most critical issue facing the development of a fully functioning, power-generating device. 3 Finally, the interaction of objects in space, such as planets, artificial satellites, and dust particles, with sparse interplanetary plasma or solar wind provides phenomena such as the homogenization of cosmic dust, 4 spontaneous self-alignment of dust clouds, 5 lunar swirls, 6 and damage-induced limitations to the lifetime of the spacecraft. 7 This list is, of course, by no means exhaustive but it clearly illustrates the extensive occurrence and economic importance of plasma-surface interactions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Numerical implementation of a cold-ion, Boltzmann-electron model for nonplanar plasma-surface interactions

Holgate

Coppins

2018

Physics of Plasmas

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Plasma-surface interactions are ubiquitous in the field of plasma science and technology. Much of the physics of these interactions can be captured with a simple model comprising a cold ion fluid and electrons which satisfy the Boltzmann relation. However, this model permits analytical solutions in a very limited number of cases. This paper presents a versatile and robust numerical implementation of the model for arbitrary surface geometries in cartesian and axisymmetric cylindrical coordinates. Specific examples of surfaces with sinusoidal corrugations, trenches, and hemi-ellipsoidal protrusions verify this numerical implementation. The application of the code to problems involving plasma-liquid interactions, plasma etching, and electron emission from the surface is discussed.

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Formation of lunar swirls by magnetic field standoff of the solar wind

Cited by 80 publications

References 37 publications

3d Pic Simulations of Collisionless Shocks at Lunar Magnetic Anomalies and Their Role in Forming Lunar Swirls

3d Pic Simulations of Collisionless Shocks at Lunar Magnetic Anomalies and Their Role in Forming Lunar Swirls

Particle Size Effects on Mid‐Infrared Spectra of Lunar Analog Minerals in a Simulated Lunar Environment

Numerical implementation of a cold-ion, Boltzmann-electron model for nonplanar plasma-surface interactions

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