HR: 1340h
AN: SA13A-1121    [Abstracts]
TI: Search for Gas/Dust Escape From Phobos and Deimos Using MGS MAG/ER Observations
AU: * Simpson, E
EM: airnsunlight@hotmail.com
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 United States
AU: Oieroset, M
EM: oieroset@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 United States
AU: Mitchell, D L
EM: mitchell@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 United States
AU: Lin, R P
EM: rlin@ssl.berkeley.edu
AF: Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 United States
AU: Acuna, M H
EM: mario.acuna@nasa.gov
AF: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 695, Greenbelt, MD 20771 United States
AB: More than 600 elliptical aerobraking and science phasing orbits made by Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) early in the mission provide unprecedented coverage of the solar wind in the vicinity of the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos, as well as their orbits. We have performed a comprehensive survey of electron and magnetic field perturbations in the solar wind to search for possible signatures of solar wind interaction with dust or gas escaping from the moons. Contrary to previous reports based on PHOBOS-2 spacecraft data we find that the solar wind perturbations are distributed quite equally over the spatial area covered by MGS and there are no clustering of perturbations near Phobos, Deimos, their orbits, or their wakes. The solar wind perturbations are most likely caused by the multiple bow shock crossings, foreshock turbulence, and hot flow anomalies. We conclude that the density of the gas/dust escaping the moons must be too low to induce detectable electron and magnetic field perturbations in the solar wind. In essence we do not find any evidence for outgassing/dust escape from the Martian moons.
DE: 5465 Rings and dust
DE: 6025 Interactions with solar wind plasma and fields
DE: 6230 Martian satellites
DE: 2154 Planetary bow shocks
DE: 2159 Plasma waves and turbulence
SC: SPA-Aeronomy [SA]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting