HR: 1340h
AN: SH33A-1195    [Abstracts]
TI: Mass Transport by Heliospheric Energetic Neutral Atoms
AU: * Izmodenov, V
EM: izmod@ipmnet.ru
AF: Department of Aeromechanics and Gas Dynamics, Moscow State University, Moscow, 119899 Russian Federation
AU: Gruntman, M
EM: mikeg@usc.edu
AF: Astronautics and Space Technology Division, Viterbi School of Engineering, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089-1191 United States
AB: Energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) are recognized as a powerful tool for remote probing of hot space plasmas in distant regions. The plasmas at the heliospheric boundary where the expanding solar wind meets the surrounding local interstellar medium are believed to produce ENAs. The heliospheric ENAs originating in the heliospheric sheath between the termination shock and the heliopause and reaching the inner heliosphere also provide an important and heretofore-unaccounted source of atomic hydrogen in the sun's vicinity. We show that these ENAs are a major contributor to the density of interplanetary hydrogen at heliocentric distances < 1 AU and could dominate in the downwind (interstellar wind) region under typical solar and interstellar conditions. Mass transport in the heliosphere by ENAs may become especially important for determining the origin of the inner source of neutral particles in the sun's vicinity and for characterization of the three-dimensional solar wind flow by imaging in extreme ultraviolet.
DE: 2124 Heliopause and solar wind termination
DE: 2144 Interstellar gas
DE: 2151 Neutral particles
DE: 2152 Pickup ions
DE: 2164 Solar wind plasma
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting