SH41A-4125:
How Do κ-Distributed Protons in the Heliosheath Affect Energetic Neutral Atoms
Thursday, 18 December 2014
Jacob Heerikhuisen1, Eric J Zirnstein2 and Nikolai V Pogorelov1,3, (1)University of Alabama in Huntsville, Huntsville, AL, United States, (2)Center for Space Plasma and Aeronomic Research, Huntsville, AL, United States, (3)University of Alabama in Huntsville, Space Science, Huntsville, AL, United States
Abstract:
Neutral hydrogen from interstellar space enters the heliosphere where it may charge-exchange with protons from the solar wind. This process introduces a slow cold proton (i.e. the original H-atom) into the plasma, whereupon it is accelerated by the motional electric field to become a pick-up ion. Simultaneously the original proton becomes a new H-atom that has an energy much higher than the original H-atom. In this work we assume the total proton population (i.e. core plus pick-up ions) downstream of the solar wind termination shock can be approximated as a κ-distribution, and numerically solve the coupled ion-neutral interaction between the solar wind and interstellar medium. We investigate the affect different values of the κ parameter have on the solution, and on the flux of energetic neutral atoms at Earth.
