Elbereth conference 2020

Mercury's ionized exosphere: Global structure and ion dynamics

27 févr. 2020, 11:15

15m

Amphithéatre (Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris)

Oral presentation Astrophysics Talk

Orateur

Elisabeth Werner (LATMOS)

Description

The Mercury plasma environment is enriched in heavy ions from photo-ionization of the neutral exosphere. The time-of-flight spectrometer FIPS onboard the MESSENGER spacecraft has detected many planetary ion species, of which He${}^{+}$, the Na${}^{+}$-group (including Na${}^{+}$, Mg${}^{+}$ and Si${}^{+}$) and the O${}^{+}$-group (including O${}^{+}$ and several water group ions) are the most abundant. Previous models of the planetary ion distribution inside Mercury's magnetosphere have concentrated on the abundant Na${}^{+}$ and H${}^{+}$ ion populations. Comparison with FIPS data has been limited to the first two MESSENGER flybys. We have developed a test-particle model which describes the full 3D distribution of several planetary ion species which are derived from the neutral exosphere. The global ion density and energy distribution of Na${}^{+}$, O${}^{+}$ and He${}^{+}$ will be presented here. We will also describe the orbital evolution of the Na${}^{+}$ ion density.

Documents de présentation

werner_elisabeth_elbereth_2020.pdf