Source dependency of exospheric sodium on Mercury

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://ir.lib.ncu.edu.tw/handle/987654321/50916

Title:	Source dependency of exospheric sodium on Mercury
Authors:	Wang,YC;Ip,WH
Contributors:	天文研究所
Keywords:	MESSENGER OBSERVATIONS;PLANET MERCURY;SURFACE;ATMOSPHERE;MAGNETOSPHERE;MODEL;EMISSION;ATOMS;LUNAR;TAIL
Date:	2011
Issue Date:	2012-03-27 18:12:50 (UTC+8)
Publisher:	國立中央大學
Abstract:	Due to a large solar radiation effect, the sodium exosphere exhibits many interesting effects, including the formation of an extended corona and a tail-like structure. The current suite of observations allows us to study some physical properties of the sodium exosphere, such as the source rates and the interaction with the surface, both experimentally and theoretically. In order to quantify the complex variations in the sodium exosphere in more detail, we use an exospheric model with the Monte-Carlo method to examine the surface interactions of a sodium atom, including the surface thermal accommodation rate and the sticking coefficient. The source rates from different components, such as the photon stimulated desorption (PSD), the meteoroid impact vaporization (MIV), and the solar wind ion sputtering (IS), can be constrained by comparing our exospheric model calculations with the published observational data. The detected terminator to limb (TL) ratio on the disk and the tail production rate can be explained with no sticking effect and small thermal accommodation rates. We also examine the best fit of the MIV source evolution, through comparison with the disk-averaged emission. The resultant discrepancy between the observations and the model fit may reflect the surface variation in the sodium abundance. A comprehensive mapping of the surface geochemical composition of the surface by the MESSENGER and Bepi-Colombo missions should give us more information about the nature of this surface-bound exosphere. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Relation:	ICARUS
Appears in Collections:	[Graduate Institute of Astronomy] journal & Dissertation

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