Abstract
Low energy (<400 eV) ion fluxes measured by the hyperbolic retarding potential analyser (HARP), during the first two elliptic orbits of the Phobos 2 spacecraft, are presented. Combining these results with the overlapping higher energy observations of the TAUS instrument, carried on the same spacecraft, we show the presence of flowing and shocked/thermalized solar wind ions inside the magnetosheath and antisunward flowing heavy ion population below the upper boundary of the magnetic barrier. Our results are not consistent with the presence of a dense, stagnated planetary ion population there, in the region explored by Phobos-2. Our results do not indicate the existence of additional sharp plasma boundaries, such as the proposed ion composition (mass loading) boundary. The observed characteristics of the outer regions of the Venus mantle and the combined HARP and TAUS measurements close to and inside of the magnetic barrier at Mars do not indicate the presence of significant differences.
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