Atmospheric escape from unmagnetized bodies

Abstract

The upper atmospheres of unmagnetized solar system bodies interact more directly with their local plasma environment than their counterparts on magnetized bodies such as Earth. One consequence of this interaction is that atmospheric particles can gain energy from the flowing plasma, as well as solar photons, and escape to space. Escape proceeds through a number of different mechanisms that can remove neutral particles (Jeans escape, photochemical escape, and sputtering) and mechanisms that remove ions (ion pickup, magnetic shear and tension-related escape, and pressure gradients). Here we discuss the plasma interactions and escape processes and rates from five solar system objects spanning three orders of magnitude in size: comets, Pluto, Titan, Mars, and Venus. We describe similarities and differences in escape for the different objects, and provide four open questions that should be addressed in the coming years.