Modeling the X-ray emissions from the geo-space environment

<p>The Earth's magnetosheath is luminous in the soft X-ray band, due to the solar wind charge exchange (SWCX) process. SWCX occurs when a heavy solar wind ion with a high charge state encounters with a neutral component. The heavy ion obtains an electron and gets into an excited state. It then decays to the ground state and emits a photon in the soft X-ray band. Considering that the X-ray emission from the magnetosheath is higher compared to that from the magnetosphere, information about the boundary positions can be derived from an X-ray image of the magnetosheath.</p><p> </p><p>The solar wind - magnetosphere - ionosphere link explorer (SMILE) is a mission jointly supported by ESA and CAS, which aims at exploring the dynamics in the whole system. Soft X-ray Imager (SXI) is expected to provide X-ray images of the magnetosphere. The Modeling Working Group (MWG) is one of the four working groups of SMILE. Studies about the modeling of X-ray emissions as well as the method to derive the boundary positions are two main topics of the MWG. The main progress of MWG will be summarized here. </p>

MAXI/SSC all-sky maps from 0.7 keV to 4 keV

By accumulating data from the Solid-state Slit Camera (SSC) on board the MAXI mission from 2009 to 2011, diffuse X-ray background maps were obtained in energies of 0.7–1.0, 1.0–2.0, and 2.0–4.0 keV. They are the first to be derived with a solid-state instrument, and to be compared with the previous ROSAT all-sky survey result. While the SSC map in the highest energy band is dominated by point sources and the Galactic diffuse X-ray emission, that in 0.7–1.0 keV reveals an extended X-ray structure, of which the brightness distribution is very similar to that observed with ROSAT about 20 years before. As in the ROSAT result, the emission is dominated by a bright arc-like structure, which appears to be part of a circle of ∼50° radius centered at about (l,b) ∼ (340°, 15°). In addition, the SSC map suggests a fainter and larger ellipse, which is elongated in the north–south direction and roughly centered at the Galactic center. The spectrum of these structures is explained as thin thermal emission from a plasma, with a temperature of ∼0.31 keV and an abundance of ∼0.3 solar. Based on SSC observation conditions including low solar activity, the solar wind charge exchange signals are estimated to be negligible in the present SSC maps, as well as in the >0.56 keV ROSAT map. A brief discussion is given on the results obtained.

Solar wind charge exchange in cometary atmospheres

Context. Solar wind charge-changing reactions are of paramount importance to the physico-chemistry of the atmosphere of a comet. The ESA/Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) provides a unique opportunity to study charge-changing processes in situ. Aims. To understand the role of these reactions in the evolution of the solar wind plasma and interpret the complex in situ measurements made by Rosetta, numerical or analytical models are necessary. Methods. We used an extended analytical formalism describing solar wind charge-changing processes at comets along solar wind streamlines. The model is driven by solar wind ion measurements from the Rosetta Plasma Consortium-Ion Composition Analyser (RPC-ICA) and neutral density observations from the Rosetta Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis-Comet Pressure Sensor (ROSINA-COPS), as well as by charge-changing cross sections of hydrogen and helium particles in a water gas. Results. A mission-wide overview of charge-changing efficiencies at comet 67P is presented. Electron capture cross sections dominate and favor the production of He and H energetic neutral atoms (ENAs), with fluxes expected to rival those of H+ and He2+ ions. Conclusions. Neutral outgassing rates are retrieved from local RPC-ICA flux measurements and match ROSINA estimates very well throughout the mission. From the model, we find that solar wind charge exchange is unable to fully explain the magnitude of the sharp drop in solar wind ion fluxes observed by Rosetta for heliocentric distances below 2.5 AU. This is likely because the model does not take the relative ion dynamics into account and to a lesser extent because it ignores the formation of bow-shock-like structures upstream of the nucleus. This work also shows that the ionization by solar extreme-ultraviolet radiation and energetic electrons dominates the source of cometary ions, although solar wind contributions may be significant during isolated events.

Solar wind charge exchange in cometary atmospheres

Context. Solar wind charge-changing reactions are of paramount importance to the physico-chemistry of the atmosphere of a comet because they mass-load the solar wind through an effective conversion of fast, light solar wind ions into slow, heavy cometary ions. The ESA/Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) provided a unique opportunity to study charge-changing processes in situ. Aims. To understand the role of charge-changing reactions in the evolution of the solar wind plasma and to interpret the complex in situ measurements made by Rosetta, numerical or analytical models are necessary. Methods. An extended analytical formalism describing solar wind charge-changing processes at comets along solar wind streamlines is presented. It is based on a thorough book-keeping of available charge-changing cross sections of hydrogen and helium particles in a water gas. Results. After presenting a general 1D solution of charge exchange at comets, we study the theoretical dependence of charge-state distributions of (He2+, He+, He0) and (H+, H0, H−) on solar wind parameters at comet 67P. We show that double charge exchange for the He2+−H2O system plays an important role below a solar wind bulk speed of 200 km s−1, resulting in the production of He energetic neutral atoms, whereas stripping reactions can in general be neglected. Retrievals of outgassing rates and solar wind upstream fluxes from local Rosetta measurements deep in the coma are discussed. Solar wind ion temperature effects at 400 km s−1 solar wind speed are well contained during the Rosetta mission. Conclusions. As the comet approaches perihelion, the model predicts a sharp decrease of solar wind ion fluxes by almost one order of magnitude at the location of Rosetta, forming in effect a solar wind ion cavity. This study is the second part of a series of three on solar wind charge-exchange and ionization processes at comets, with a specific application to comet 67P and the Rosetta mission.