Abstract
We have estimated (1) production rates, (2) ion and electron densities of meteor ablation and (3) ionization for different masses and velocities of meteoroids when comet C/2013 A1 crossed the orbit of Mars on 19 October, 2014 at 18:27 UT. Meteor ablations of small masses < 10−4 g have created a broad layer between altitude ~ 90 km and 110 km. The meteoroids of large masses ≥ 10−4 g are burnt at around 60–90 km well below the main ionization peak at altitude ~160 km produced in the nighttime by solar wind particle impact. The production rates and densities of 15 metallic ions (Mg+, Fe+, Si+, MgO+, FeO+, SiO+, MgCO2 +, MgO2 +, FeCO2 +, FeO2 +, SiCO2 +, SiO2 +, MgN2 +, FeN2 +, and SiN2 +) have been computed self-consistently between altitudes 50 km and 150 km. The twelve major peaks in the Ion Mass Spectra (IMS) are predicted by our model calculations. Our predicted ion and electron density profiles of metals provide benchmark values that can be observed by plasma probes onboard Mars Express (MEX), Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) and Mangalyaan.
Highlights
The comet C/2013 A1 was discovered on 3 January, 2013 at Siding Spring Observatory using Uppsala Southern Schmidt Telescope
The Neutral Gas Ion Mass Spectrometer (NGIMS) onboard Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) has sampled the compositions of Mars atmosphere and observed eight metals (i.e. Mg, Fe, Na, K, Mn, Ni, Cr and Zn) after the close encounter with C/ 2013A1
The production rates of Mg and Si are not plotted in Figure 3a-c because their values are similar to Fe
Summary
The comet C/2013 A1 was discovered on 3 January, 2013 at Siding Spring Observatory using Uppsala Southern Schmidt Telescope (http://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/sbdb.cgi). It passed from the environment of Mars at minimum distance ~ 134000 km (equal to 0.00059 AU) on 19 October, 2014 at nighttime [1]. The Martian Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyzer (MENCA) onboard Mangalyaan should measure the mass densities of cometary dust in the Martian environment (www.isro.org/mars/updates.aspx). Both missions do not carry radio occultation experiment.
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