HR: 0800h
AN: SH11B-0265    [Abstracts]
TI: Mars Express/ASPERA-3/NPI and IMAGE/LENA Observations Downstream of the Heliospheric Neutral Atom Flow
AU: * Collier, M R
EM: michael.r.collier@nasa.gov
AF: NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Holmstrom, M
EM: matsh@irf.se
AF: NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Holmstrom, M
EM: matsh@irf.se
AF: Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Box 812, Kiruna, S-98 128 Sweden
AU: Barabash, S
EM: stas@irf.se
AF: Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Box 812, Kiruna, S-98 128 Sweden
AU: Brinkfeldt, K
EM: klas@irf.se
AF: Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Box 812, Kiruna, S-98 128 Sweden
AU: Moore, T E
EM: thomas.e.moore@nasa.gov
AF: NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AU: Simpson, D G
EM: david.g.simpson@nasa.gov
AF: NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AB: Both in cruise phase and at Mars, the neutral particle instrument NPD on Mars Express observed "unexplained neutral beams" (e.g. Barabash, EOS Trans, AGU, 85(47), Fall Meeting Suppl., Ab. SH43A-1092, F1509-1510) unrelated to Mars which appear to be either heliospheric or of solar wind origin. Independently, IMAGE/LENA has reported neutral atom observations that may be interpreted as a "secondary stream" having different characteristics and flowing from a higher ecliptic longitude than the nominal upstream direction (e.g. Collier et al., Adv. Space Res., 34, 166-171, 2004; Wurz et al., AIP Conf. Proceedings 719, 195-200, 2004). Both sets of observations do not appear to fit in easily with the neutral atom environment from 1.0-1.5 AU as it is currently understood. In this presentation we compare IMAGE/LENA data with Mars Express/ASPERA-3/NPI data taken during eclipse season to try to understand both data sets better.
DE: 7837 Neutral particles (2151)
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: Fall Meeting 2005