The dependence of ion density in the wake of the AE‐C satellite on the ratio of body size to Debye length in an [O+]‐dominated plasma

Abstract

Measurements of electron temperature, satellite potential, ion density and ion composition from the cylindrical electrostatic probe and the Bennett ion mass spectrometer on board the AE‐C satellite were used to investigate the influence of the body size paramter RD = R0/λD (where R0 is the satellite radius and λD is the ambient Debye length) on ion distribution in the very near wake. The investigation focused on [O+] plasmas. It was found that the ratio (β) of density in the wake to ambient density varies with RD and that the variation can be described by a simple exponential relationship of the form β = a0 exp (a1RD) for 37 ≤RD ≤ 47 and a0 = 0.06, a1 = −0.009. The present study extends that of Samir et al. [1979a].