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Observations of the lunar plasma wake from the WIND spacecraft on December 27, 1994

Ogilvie, KW; Steinberg, JT; Fitzenreiter, RJ; Owen, CJ; Lazarus, AJ; Farrell, WM; Torbert, RB; (1996) Observations of the lunar plasma wake from the WIND spacecraft on December 27, 1994. Geophysical Research Letters , 23 (10) 1255 - 1258. 10.1029/96GL01069. Green open access

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Abstract

On December 27, 1994, the WIND spacecraft crossed the lunar wake at a distance of 6.5 lunar radii ( RL ) behind the moon. The observations made were the first employing modem instruments and a high data rate. The SWE plasma instrument on WIND observed new aspects of the interaction between the solar wind and unmagnetized dielectric bodies. The plasma density decreased exponentially from the periphery of the wake towards its center as predicted by simple theory. Behind the moon two distinct cold ion beams were observed refilling the lunar cavity. The ions were accelerated along the direction of the magnetic field by an electric field of the order 2 × 10−4 volts/m. The region of plasma depletion was observed to extend beyond the light shadow, consistent with a rarefaction wave moving out from the wake into the undisturbed solar wind.

Type: Article
Title: Observations of the lunar plasma wake from the WIND spacecraft on December 27, 1994
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1029/96GL01069
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1029/96GL01069
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright 1996 by the American Geophysical Union
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > Dept of Space and Climate Physics
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1349829
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