A transient enhancement of Mercury’s exosphere at extremely high altitudes inferred from pickup ions

Jamie M. Jasinski; Leonardo H. Regoli; Timothy A. Cassidy; Ryan M. Dewey; Jim M. Raines; James A. Slavin; Andrew J. Coates; Daniel J. Gershman; Tom A. Nordheim; Neil Murphy

doi:10.1038/s41467-020-18220-2

Nature Communications (Sep 2020)

A transient enhancement of Mercury’s exosphere at extremely high altitudes inferred from pickup ions

Jamie M. Jasinski,
Leonardo H. Regoli,
Timothy A. Cassidy,
Ryan M. Dewey,
Jim M. Raines,
James A. Slavin,
Andrew J. Coates,
Daniel J. Gershman,
Tom A. Nordheim,
Neil Murphy

Affiliations

Jamie M. Jasinski: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Leonardo H. Regoli: Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan
Timothy A. Cassidy: Laboratory of Atmospheric and Space Sciences, University of Colorado Boulder
Ryan M. Dewey: Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan
Jim M. Raines: Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan
James A. Slavin: Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering, University of Michigan
Andrew J. Coates: Mullard Space Science Laboratory, UCL
Daniel J. Gershman: NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Tom A. Nordheim: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology
Neil Murphy: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18220-2
Journal volume & issue: Vol. 11, no. 1
pp. 1 – 9

Abstract

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Mercury has a global dayside exosphere that is very tenuous and does not extend far from the planet. Here, the authors show enhancement of neutral densities at high altitudes inferred from pickup ions that is most likely caused by the impact of a meteroid.

Published in Nature Communications

ISSN: 2041-1723 (Online)
Publisher: Nature Portfolio
Country of publisher: United Kingdom
LCC subjects: Science
Website: https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

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