Solar wind interaction with Pluto’s escaping atmosphere

Abstract:

NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft carries two instruments, SWAP and PEPSSI, that measure low and high energy particles respectively. These particle instruments have been measuring the conditions in the solar wind for most of the trajectory from Earth to Pluto. The Venetia Burney Student Dust Counter measured impacts from micron-sixed dust particles. These particle instruments also made observations during the flyby of Pluto on July 14, 2015. We report on New Horizons measurements of the interaction of the solar wind interaction with Pluto’s extended atmosphere and discuss comparisons with theoretical expectations.