HR: 0800h
AN: SH12A-0851    [Abstracts]
TI: Neutral Solar Wind Generated by Lunar Exospheric Dust at the Terminator
AU: * Collier, M R
EM: michael.r.collier@nasa.gov
AF: Building 21 Room 246 Code 673 NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AU: Stubbs, T J
EM: timothy.j.stubbs@nasa.gov
AF: NASA/GSFC and GEST UMBC, NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD 20771, United States
AB: We calculate the flux of neutral solar wind observed on the lunar surface at the terminator due to solar wind protons penetrating exospheric dust with: (1) grains larger that 0.1μm and (2) grains larger than 0.01μm. For grains larger than 0.1μm, the ratio of the neutral solar wind to solar wind flux is estimated to be ~10^-4-10^-3 at solar wind speeds in excess of 800 km/s, but much lower (<10^-5) at average to low solar wind speeds. However, when the smaller grain sizes are considered, the ratio of the neutral solar wind flux to solar wind flux is estimated to be ≥10^-5 at all speeds and at speeds in excess of 700 km/s reaches 10^-3-10^-2. These neutral solar wind fluxes are easily measurable with current low energy neutral atom instrumentation. Observations of neutral solar wind from the surface of the Moon could provide a very sensitive determination of the distribution of very small dust grains in the lunar exosphere and would provide data complementary to optical measurements at ultraviolet and visible wavelengths. Furthermore, neutral solar wind, unlike its ionized counterpart, is not held-off by magnetic anomalies, and may contribute to greater space weathering than expected in certain lunar locations.
DE: 7837 Neutral particles (2151)
SC: SPA-Solar and Heliospheric Physics [SH]
MN: 2007 Fall Meeting