Model calculations of the planetary ion distribution in the Martian tail

Lichtenegger, Herbert; Dubinin, E.

doi:10.1186/bf03352132

Cited by 37 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Such observations have also been reported by Kallio and Janhunen (2002). This asymmetry of the oxygen distribution has also been noticed in test particles simulations (Kallio and Koskinen, 1999;Lichtenegger and Dubinin, 1998). Figures 5d and h offer another illustration , in the XZ plane, of the drop in the oxygen ion density due to the shrinking of the atomic oxygen corona at solar minimum.…”

Section: Solar Wind and Planetary Ionssupporting

confidence: 59%

Influence of the solar EUV flux on the Martian plasma environment

Modolo¹,

Chanteur²,

et al. 2005

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Abstract. The interaction of the solar wind with the Martian atmosphere and ionosphere is investigated by using threedimensional, global and multi-species hybrid simulations. In the present work we focus on the influence of the solar EUV flux on the Martian plasma environment by comparing simulations done for conditions representative of the extrema of the solar cycle. The dynamics of four ionic species (H + , He ++ , O + , O + 2 ), originating either from the solar wind or from the planetary plasma, is treated fully kinetically in the simulation model in order to characterize the distribution of each component of the plasma, both at solar maximum and at solar minimum. The solar EUV flux controls the ionization frequencies of the exospheric species, atomic hydrogen and oxygen, as well as the density, the temperature, and thus the extension of the exosphere. Ionization by photons and by electron impacts, and the main charge exchange reactions are self-consistently included in the simulation model. Simulation results are in reasonable agreement with the observations made by Phobos-2 and Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft: 1) the interaction creates a cavity, void of solar wind ions (H + , He ++ ), which depends weakly upon the phase of the solar cycle, 2) the motional electric field of the solar wind flow creates strong asymmetries in the Martian environment, 3) the spatial distribution of the different components of the planetary plasma depends strongly upon the phase of the solar cycle. The fluxes of the escaping planetary ions are computed from the simulated data and results for solar maximum are compared with estimates based on the measurements made by experiments ASPERA and TAUS on board Phobos-2.

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Section: Solar Wind and Planetary Ionssupporting

confidence: 59%

Influence of the solar EUV flux on the Martian plasma environment

Modolo¹,

Chanteur²,

et al. 2005

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“…These newly generated planetary ions are accelerated to higher altitudes and energies by the interplanetary electric field and are guided by the solar-or stellar wind plasma flow around the planetary obstacle to space, where they are lost from the planet (e.g., Spreiter and Stahara 1980;Lundin et al 1989Lundin et al , 1990Lichtenegger and Dubinin 1998;Biernat et al 2001;Lammer et al 2006b;Terada et al 2002).…”

Section: Non-thermal Oxygen Loss During Venus Historymentioning

confidence: 98%

Atmospheric Escape and Evolution of Terrestrial Planets and Satellites

et al. 2008

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International audienceThe origin and evolution of Venus', Earth's, Mars' and Titan's atmospheres are discussed from the time when the active young Sun arrived at the Zero-Age-Main-Sequence. We show that the high EUV flux of the young Sun, depending on the thermospheric composition, the amount of IR-coolers and the mass and size of the planet, could have been responsible that hydrostatic equilibrium was not always maintained and hydrodynamic flow and expansion of the upper atmosphere resulting in adiabatic cooling of the exobase temperature could develop. Furthermore, thermal and various nonthermal atmospheric escape processes influenced the evolution and isotope fractionation of the atmospheres and water inventories of the terrestrial planets and Saturn's large satellite Titan efficiently

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“…The compression of intrinsic planetary magnetic fields of "Hot Jupiters" should enhance the non-thermal ion loss rates caused by ion pick up (Lammer & Bauer 1991;Lichtenegger et al 1995;Lichtenegger & Dubinin 1998;Leblanc & Johnson 2001Lichtenegger et al 2002) and detached ionospheric clouds (Brace et al 1982) caused by magnetohydrodynamic plasma instabilities (Arshukova et al 2003;Penz et al 2003) at the stellar wind-ionospheric boundaries. Ion loss was not studied by Lammer et al (2003a) but was estimated by Guillot et al (1996).…”

Section: Atmosphere Protection and Erosionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effect of tidal locking on the magnetospheric and atmospheric evolution of “Hot Jupiters”

Grießmeier

Stadelmann

Penz

et al. 2004

A&A

202

230

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Abstract. We study the interaction between the planetary magnetosphere and atmosphere of the close-in extrasolar planets HD 209458b and OGLE-TR-56b with the stellar wind during the evolution of their host stars. Recent astrophysical observations of solar-like stars indicate that the radiation and particle environments of young stars are orders of magnitudes larger than for stars with ages comparable to the sun (∼4.6 Gyr). We model the interaction for the present and for early evolutionary stages, showing that it is possible that "Hot Jupiters" have an ionosphere-stellar wind interaction like Venus. Our study suggests that the internal magnetic field of exoplanets orbiting close to their host stars may be very weak due to tidal locking. The magnetic moments can be less than one tenth of the value presently observed for the rapidly rotating planet Jupiter. We find that the stronger stellar wind of younger solar-type stars compresses the magnetosphere to a standoff distance at which the ionized part of the upper atmosphere, hydrodynamically expanded by the XUV-flux, builds an obstacle. Because of a much larger stellar wind particle flux during the first ∼0.5 Gyr after the host stars arrived on the Zero-Age-Main-Sequence, "Hot Jupiters" may have not been protected by their intrinsic magnetic fields, even if one neglects the effect of tidal locking. In such a case, the unshielded upper atmosphere will be affected by different ionization and non-thermal ion loss processes. This contributes to the estimated neutral hydrogen loss rates of about ≥10 10 g/s of the observed expanded exosphere of HD 209458b (Vidal-Madjar et al. 2003) and will be an ionized part of the estimated upper energy-limited neutral hydrogen loss rates of about 10 12 g/s (Lammer et al. 2003a).

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Model calculations of the planetary ion distribution in the Martian tail

Cited by 37 publications

References 21 publications

Influence of the solar EUV flux on the Martian plasma environment

Influence of the solar EUV flux on the Martian plasma environment

Atmospheric Escape and Evolution of Terrestrial Planets and Satellites

The effect of tidal locking on the magnetospheric and atmospheric evolution of “Hot Jupiters”

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