Energetic Neutral Atom Flux Research Articles

Energetic neutral atom observations of magnetic anomalies on the lunar surface

SARA, the Sub‐KeV Atom Analyzer, on board Chandrayaan‐1 recorded the first image of a minimagnetosphere above a lunar magnetic anomaly using energetic neutral atoms (ENAs). It was shown that this magnetosphere, which is located near the Gerasimovich crater, is able to reduce the solar wind ion flux impinging onto the lunar surface by more than 50%. Following this first observation, we investigated all magnetic anomalies that are in the SARA data set. We searched for a possible correlation between the solar wind plasma parameters (dynamic pressure, magnetic field), the local magnetic field, and the reduction in the reflected hydrogen ENA flux (henceforth called shielding efficiency). Having analyzed all observations by SARA, we discovered that the Gerasimovich magnetic anomaly is topologically a very simple, large‐scale magnetic structure, which is favorable for this kind of investigation. Most other magnetic anomalies on the lunar surface have more small‐scale features in their magnetic field structure, which complicates the interpretation of the observed data. We find a clear correlation between the plasma parameters and the shielding efficiency for the Gerasimovich case. For the other observed anomalies only about half of the cases showed such a correlation. We therefore conclude that the solar wind ions‐magnetic anomaly interaction is in general more complex than in the Gerasimovich case.

HSTOF ENA observations and energetic ion distributions in the heliosheath

Context. Launched in 1996, HSTOF on board SOHO was the first instrument to detect the energetic neutral atoms (ENA) from the heliosheath. After mid 2003, the field of view of HSTOF was restricted to the flank sectors of the heliosheath, in which region the energetic ion distributions are still unknown. Interpretation of these data requires understanding of the energetic ion transport in the inner heliosheath. Aims. We update the HSTOF ENA hydrogen and helium spectra by adding the results from the recent (2006−2010) measurements. We calculate the energetic ion distributions in a numerical model of the heliosheath and use them as a basis for interpreting the HSTOF ENA observations, in particular those of the flank sectors. Methods. The hydrogen and helium ENA spectra were derived from the HSTOF observations of two 90 ◦ -wide ecliptic longitude sectors around the crosswind directions. The energetic ion distributions in the heliosheath were calculated in a simple model of the heliosphere, assuming that the main acceleration occurs at the termination shock. The effects of different processes (charge-exchange loss, adiabatic acceleration, parallel diffusion and escape across the boundary) were determined with different assumptions about the boundary conditions and the transport parameters. The resulting ion distributions were used to calculate the ENA fluxes, which can be compared with the observations by HSTOF and other instruments. Results. The energetic ion density in the flank sectors of the heliosphere is lower than in the forward (upwind) sector. As a result, the contribution of the flanks of the heliosheath to the production of ENA is not directly proportional to the thickness of the heliosheath, but instead is comparable to the contribution of the forward sector, which agrees with the HSTOF data. The HSTOF ENA flux intensity is nevertheless significantly lower than the model calculations. Near the heliopause there appears a region of low energetic ion density caused by the charge-exchange and the escape losses.

SPECTRAL PROPERTIES OF ∼0.5-6 keV ENERGETIC NEUTRAL ATOMS MEASURED BY THE INTERSTELLAR BOUNDARY EXPLORER (IBEX) ALONG THE LINES OF SIGHT OF VOYAGER

Energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) observed by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) provide powerful diagnostics about the origin of the progenitor ion populations and the physical mechanisms responsible for their production. Here we survey the fluxes, energy spectra, and energy dependence of the spectral indices of ~0.5-6?keV ENAs measured by IBEX-Hi along the lines of sight of Voyager 1 and 2. We compare the ENA spectra observed at IBEX with predictions of Zank et?al. who modeled the microphysics of the heliospheric termination shock to predict the shape and relative contributions of three distinct heliosheath ion populations. We show that (1) the ENA spectral indices exhibit similar energy dependence along V1 and V2 directions?the spectrum hardens to ? ~ 1 between ~1 and 2?keV and softens to ? ~ 2 below ~1?keV and above ~2?keV, (2) the observed ENA fluxes agree to within ~50% of the Zank et?al. predictions and are unlikely to be produced by core solar wind (SW) ions, and (3) the ENA spectra do not exhibit sharp cutoffs at ~twice the SW speed as is typically observed for shell-like pickup ion (PUI) distributions in the heliosphere. We conclude that ENAs at IBEX are generated by at least two types of ion populations whose relative contributions depend on the ENA energy: transmitted PUIs in the ~0.5-5?keV energy range and reflected PUIs above ~5?keV energy. The ~0.5-5?keV PUI distribution is probably a superposition of Maxwellian or kappa distributions and partially filled shell distributions in velocity space.

NON-EQUILIBRIUM THERMODYNAMIC PROCESSES: SPACE PLASMAS AND THE INNER HELIOSHEATH

Recently, empirical kappa distribution, commonly used to describe non-equilibrium systems like space plasmas, has been connected with non-extensive statistical mechanics. Here we show how a consistent definition of the temperature and pressure is developed for stationary states out of thermal equilibrium, so that the familiar ideal gas state equation still holds. In addition to the classical triplet of temperature, pressure, and density, this generalization requires the kappa index as a fourth independent thermodynamic variable that characterizes the non-equilibrium stationary states. All four of these thermodynamic variables have key roles in describing the governing thermodynamical processes and transitions in space plasmas. We introduce a novel characterization of isothermal and isobaric processes that describe a system's transition into different stationary states by varying the kappa index. In addition, we show how the variation of temperature or/and pressure can occur through an 'iso-q' process, in which the system remains in a fixed stationary state (fixed kappa index). These processes have been detected in the proton plasma in the inner heliosheath via specialized data analysis of energetic neutral atom (ENA) observations from Interstellar Boundary Explorer. In particular, we find that the temperature is highly correlated with (1) kappa, asymptotically related to isothermal ({approx}1,000,000 K)more » and iso-q ({kappa} {approx} 1.7) processes; and (2) density, related to an isobaric process, which separates the 'Ribbon', P Almost-Equal-To 3.2 pdyn cm{sup -2}, from the globally distributed ENA flux, P Almost-Equal-To 2 pdyn cm{sup -2}.« less

VARIATIONS IN THE HELIOSPHERIC POLAR ENERGETIC NEUTRAL ATOM FLUX OBSERVED BY THEINTERSTELLAR BOUNDARY EXPLORER

The ecliptic poles are observed continuously by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX); thus, it is possible to discern temporal variations in the energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) from the outer heliosphere on timescales much shorter than the time it takes for IBEX to generate a full sky map (six months). Observations indicate that the ENA flux from the polar directions incident at Earth has been steadily decreasing for the two-year period from 2008 December through 2011 February. Over the IBEX-Hi energy range, the decrease in flux is energy dependent, varying at the south ecliptic pole from no drop at 0.71 keV, to 70% at 1.1 keV. At higher energies the drop ranges between 10% and 50%. The decline observed at the north ecliptic pole is as high as 48%, also at 1.1 keV. The trend correlates with the steady decline in solar wind dynamic pressure observed at 1 AU between 2005 and 2009, the likely period when solar wind protons that provide the source for ENAs observed by IBEX would have been outbound from the Sun. We propose a method by which the correlation between the 1 AU solar wind dynamic pressure and the ENA-derived pressure within the inner heliosheath (IHS) can be used to estimate the distance to the termination shock and the thickness of the IHS in the direction of the ecliptic poles. Our new analysis based on IBEX data shows the TS distances to be 110 AU and 134 AU at the south and north poles, respectively, and the corresponding IHS thicknesses to be 55 AU and 82 AU. Our analysis is consistent with the notion that the observed ENA fluxes originate in the IHS and their variations are driven by the solar wind as it evolves through the solar cycle.

EDITORIAL: INTERSTELLAR BOUNDARY EXPLORER (IBEX): DIRECT SAMPLING OF THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM

EDITORIAL: <i>INTERSTELLAR BOUNDARY EXPLORER</i> (<i>IBEX</i>): DIRECT SAMPLING OF THE INTERSTELLAR MEDIUM

INTERSTELLAR BOUNDARY EXPLORERMEASUREMENTS AND MAGNETIC FIELD IN THE VICINITY OF THE HELIOPAUSE

The combination of the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) all-sky maps of the energetic neutral atom (ENA) fluxes with the Voyager in situ measurements provides a unique opportunity to learn about the physics governing the solar wind interaction with the local interstellar medium. The first IBEX results revealed a sky-spanning of unexpectedly intense emissions of ENAs that had not been predicted previously by any physical model. A number of explanations were proposed to explain the IBEX ribbon, some of them associated with the distribution of the interstellar magnetic field (ISMF) coupled with the interplanetary magnetic field at the heliopause. The position of the ribbon in the sky correlates with the line-of-sight directions perpendicular to the modeled ISMF. In this paper, we analyze such distributions for a variety of ISMF strengths and directions in order to reveal the topology of the surface that may potentially contain the ENA sources creating the ribbon. We also analyze the distributions of total pressure exerted on the heliopause as a result of its draping by the ISMF. The effects of solar cycle variations on the ribbon topology are discussed.

Does the space environment affect the ecosphere?

The Sun is now emerging from a deep and protracted solar minimum, when the power, pressure, flux, and magnetic flux of solar wind were at their lowest levels [McComas et al., 2008; Schwadron and McComas, 2008;Connick et al., 2011]. Because of an anomalously weak heliospheric magnetic field and low solar wind pressure, galactic cosmic rays (GCRs)—protons, electrons, and ionized nuclei of elements accelerated to high energies—achieved the highest fluxes observed in the space age (Figure 1) [Mewaldt et al., 2010]. Related observations have shown remarkably rapid changes in the fluxes of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) used by NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer mission to image the global heliosphere surrounding the solar system [McComas et al., 2010]. These changes in ENAs are caused by decreasing solar wind pressure. Does the recent anomalous deep solar minimum hint at larger changes in store? And how do changing GCR fluxes and conditions on the Sun influence Earth's ecosphere? Given the fact that GCR radiation can damage living tissue, causing cellular mutagenesis, the changing state of the Sun may have serious implications for life on the planet.

Experimental study of exospheric hydrogen atom distributions by Lyman-alpha detectors on the TWINS mission

[1] Exospheric atomic hydrogen (H) resonantly scatters solar Lyman-α (121.567 nm) radiation, observed as the geocorona. Measurements of scattered solar photons allow one to probe time-varying three-dimensional distributions of exospheric H atoms. The Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers (TWINS) mission images the magnetosphere in energetic neutral atom (ENA) fluxes and additionally carries Lyman-α detectors (LADs) to investigate exospheric atomic hydrogen. Knowledge of exospheric properties is essential for the interpretation of magnetospheric images in ENA fluxes produced in charge exchange between energetic ions and H atoms. We describe the process of obtaining exospheric distributions and present, as an example, a global H number density distribution for 11 June 2008. The TWINS LAD experimental data are especially sensitive to atomic hydrogen at geocentric distances from 3 to 8 Earth radii. The distribution reveals asymmetries from day to night, dawn to dusk, and north to south. We discuss the available data sets and their coverage, limitations, and promise for a study of exospheric response to seasonal, solar, and geomagnetic variations.

Magnetic field depression at the Earth's surface during energetic neutral atom emission fade-out in the inner magnetosphere

[1] Using data from the high-energy neutral atom (HENA) imager onboard the IMAGE satellite, we examined the relation between the SYM-H index and the ring current energy during a storm main phase. The energy range of the energetic neutral atom (ENA) flux data used here is 16–120 keV for hydrogen and <180 keV for oxygen. From the data for the period 2000–2002, we selected 24 storm main phase events during which the IMAGE satellite was located at a geomagnetic latitude of ≥45° and a geocentric distance of ≥6 RE. According to the Dessler-Parker-Sckopke (DPS) equation, the ring current energy is expected to increase as the SYM-H index decreases. When the ENA energy flux is superimposed as a function of the SYM-H index for all 24 events, their overall correlation is negative; that is, the relation between the ENA energy flux and the SYM-H index is generally consistent with the DPS equation. However, an analysis of individual events showed only 10 events (42%) in which the ENA energy flux was negatively correlated with the SYM-H index (negative correlation events). There were 10 events showing no clear correlation between the ENA energy flux and the SYM-H index (no correlation events) and 4 events which contradicted the DPS equation (positive correlation events). In the superimposed plot, we noted that a smooth curve can be drawn for an upper limit of the data distribution, and data from the no correlation or positive correlation events create downward branches in the distribution. These observational results are not explained by the conventional DPS equation but by the “generalized” DPS equation, which includes a term representing energy stored in the stretched magnetic field. We can reasonably presume that the stretched magnetic field prevents energetic particles from being injected into the ring current. From the generalized DPS equation, we conclude that the total (kinetic and magnetic) energy stored in the stretched field and ring current loss mechanisms are important for understanding the relation between the ground magnetic field variation and ring current energy variation.

The distribution of Titan's high-altitude (out to ∼50,000 km) exosphere from energetic neutral atom (ENA) measurements by Cassini/INCA

We report observations of Titan's high-altitude exosphere detected out to about 50,000km altitude. The observations were made by the Ion Neutral Camera (INCA) on board the Cassini spacecraft. INCA detects energetic neutral atoms (ENA) that are formed when the ambient magnetospheric ions charge exchange with Titan's neutral atmosphere and exosphere. We find that Titan's exospheric H2 distribution follows closely a full Chamberlain distribution including ballistic, escaping and satellite distributions. As expected, neutral densities are dominated by a satellite distribution above about 10,000km. The maximum detectable extent of the exosphere (∼50,000km) coincides with the radius of the Hill sphere of gravitational influence from Saturn. While we find no direct indications of a neutral Titan torus with densities greater than about 1000cm−3, we observe interesting asymmetries in the distribution that warrants further investigation. Based on these findings we compute the average precipitating ENA flux to be about 5×106keV/(cm2s), or 8×10−3erg/(cm2s), which is directly comparable to that of precipitating energetic ions (Sittler, et al., 2009) and slightly higher than that of solar EUV (Tobiska, 2004). Thus, the energy deposited by precipitating ENAs must also be taken into consideration when studying the energy balance of Titan's thermosphere.

SEPARATION OF THEINTERSTELLAR BOUNDARY EXPLORERRIBBON FROM GLOBALLY DISTRIBUTED ENERGETIC NEUTRAL ATOM FLUX

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) observes a remarkable feature, the IBEX ribbon, which has energetic neutral atom (ENA) flux over a narrow region ~20° wide, a factor of 2-3 higher than the more globally distributed ENA flux. Here, we separate ENA emissions in the ribbon from the distributed flux by applying a transparency mask over the ribbon and regions of high emissions, and then solve for the distributed flux using an interpolation scheme. Our analysis shows that the energy spectrum and spatial distribution of the ribbon are distinct from the surrounding globally distributed flux. The ribbon energy spectrum shows a knee between ~1 and 4 keV, and the angular distribution is approximately independent of energy. In contrast, the distributed flux does not show a clear knee and more closely conforms to a power law over much of the sky. Consistent with previous analyses, the slope of the power law steepens from the nose to tail, suggesting a weaker termination shock toward the tail as compared to the nose. The knee in the energy spectrum of the ribbon suggests that its source plasma population is generated via a distinct physical process. Both the slope in the energy distribution of the distributed flux and the knee in the energy distribution of the ribbon are ordered by latitude. The heliotail may be identified in maps of globally distributed flux as a broad region of low flux centered ~44°W of the interstellar downwind direction, suggesting heliotail deflection by the interstellar magnetic field.

Simulation and TWINS observations of the 22 July 2009 storm

TWINS is the first mission to perform stereo imaging of the Earth's ring current. The magnetic storm on 22 July 2009 was at the time the largest storm observed since TWINS began routine stereo imaging in June 2008. On 22 July 2009, the Dst dropped to nearly −80 nT at 0700 and 1000 UT. During the main phase, and at the peak of the storm, TWINS 1 and 2 were near apogee and moving between predawn and postdawn local time. The energetic neutral atom (ENA) imagers on the two spacecraft captured the storm intensification and the formation of the partial ring current. The peak of the high‐altitude ENA emissions was seen in the midnight‐to‐dawn local time sector. The development of this storm has been simulated using the comprehensive ring current model (CRCM) to understand and interpret the observed signatures. We perform CRCM runs with constant and time‐varying magnetic field. The model calculations are validated by comparing the simulated ENA and ion flux intensities with TWINS ENA images and in situ ion data from a THEMIS satellite. Simulation with a static magnetic field produces a strong shielding electric field that skews the ion drift trajectories toward dawn. The model's corresponding peak ENA emissions are always more eastward than those in the observed TWINS images. On the other hand, the simulation with a dynamic magnetic field gives better spatial agreement with both ENA and in situ particle data, suggesting that temporal variations of the geomagnetic field exert a significant influence upon global ring current ion dynamics.

Magnetic field dipolarization in the deep inner magnetosphere and its role in development of O+‐rich ring current

We studied magnetic field dipolarization and associated ion acceleration in the deep inner magnetosphere, using magnetic field data obtained by the magnetometer on board the Mission Demonstration Satellite 1 (MDS‐1) and the energetic neutral atom (ENA) flux data obtained by the high‐energy neutral analyzer imager on board the Imager for Magnetopause‐to‐Aurora Global Exploration satellite. Because the MDS‐1 satellite has a geosynchronous transfer orbit, we could survey magnetic field variations at L = 3.0–6.5. Analyzing data in the period from February to July 2002, we found that (1) dipolarization can be detected over a wide range of L (i.e., L = 3.5–6.5, which is far inside the geosynchronous altitude); (2) when the MDS‐1 satellite was located close to auroral breakup longitude, the occurrence probability of dipolarization was about 50% just inside the geosynchronous altitude and about 16% at L = 3.5–5.0, suggesting that dipolarization in the deep inner magnetosphere is not unusual; (3) magnetic storms were developing whenever dipolarization was found at L = 3.5–5.0; (4) dipolarization was accompanied by magnetic field fluctuations having a characteristic timescale of 3–5 s, which is comparable to the local gyroperiod of O+ ions; and (5) after dipolarization, the oxygen ENA flux in the nightside ring current region was predominantly enhanced by a factor of 2–5 and stayed at an enhanced level for more than 1 h, while clear enhancement was scarcely seen in the hydrogen ENA flux. From these results, we conjectured a scenario for the generation of an O+‐rich ring current, in which preexisting thermal O+ ions in the outer plasmasphere (i.e., an oxygen torus known from satellite observations) experience local and nonadiabatic acceleration by magnetic field fluctuations that accompany dipolarization in the deep inner magnetosphere (L = 3.5–5.0).

CANIBEXIDENTIFY VARIATIONS IN THE GALACTIC ENVIRONMENT OF THE SUN USING ENERGETIC NEUTRAL ATOMS?

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft is providing the first all-sky maps of the energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) produced by charge-exchange between interstellar neutral \HI\ atoms and heliospheric solar wind and pickup ions in the heliosphere boundary regions. The 'edge' of the interstellar cloud presently surrounding the heliosphere extends less than 0.1 pc in the upwind direction, terminating at an unknown distance, indicating that the outer boundary conditions of the heliosphere could change during the lifetime of the IBEX satellite. Using reasonable values for future outer heliosphere boundary conditions, ENA fluxes are predicted for one possible source of ENAs coming from outside of the heliopause. The ENA production simulations use three-dimensional MHD plasma models of the heliosphere that include a kinetic description of neutrals and a Lorentzian distribution for ions. Based on this ENA production model, it is then shown that the sensitivities of the IBEX 1.1 keV skymaps are sufficient to detect the variations in ENA fluxes that are expected to accompany the solar transition into the next upwind cloud. Approximately 20% of the IBEX 1.1 keV pixels appear capable of detecting the predicted model differences at the $ 3 \sigma$ level, with these pixels concentrated in the Ribbon region. Regardless of the detailed ENA production model, the success of the modeled \BdotR\ directions in reproducing the Ribbon locus, together with our results, indicate that the Ribbon phenomenon traces the variations in the heliosphere distortion caused by the relative pressures of the interstellar magnetic and gaseous components.

STABILITY OF A PICKUP ION RING-BEAM POPULATION IN THE OUTER HELIOSHEATH: IMPLICATIONS FOR THEIBEXRIBBON

First results from NASA's Interplanetary Boundary Explorer mission showed an unexpected of enhanced energetic neutral atom (ENA) flux spanning most of the sky. One explanation put forward suggests that the ribbon may be produced by secondary ENAs originating from pickup ions (PUIs) in the outer heliosheath (OHS). These PUIs are generated when primary ENAs born in the solar wind and inner heliosheath cross the heliopause and charge exchange in the nearby interstellar medium. One of the core assumptions underpinning this theory is that the newly born PUI ring is relatively stable with respect to wave generation, so that it can undergo charge exchange before becoming isotropized. We test this assumption using a linear kinetic theory and hybrid simulations of a low-density PUI ring interacting with instability-generated waves in a warm plasma of the OHS. It is shown that a broadband spectrum of waves is excited as a result of the cyclotron instability that efficiently scatters the ring ions. We also show that the ambient fluctuations in the OHS are unlikely to produce a measurable degree of resonant scattering of PUIs because their intensity is too low compared with the waves excited by the instability.

SCATTER-FREE PICKUP IONS BEYOND THE HELIOPAUSE AS A MODEL FOR THE INTERSTELLAR BOUNDARY EXPLORER RIBBON

We present a new kinetic-gasdynamic model of the solar wind interaction with the local interstellar medium. The model incorporates several processes suggested earlier for the origin of the ribbon—the most prominent feature seen in the all-sky maps of heliospheric energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) discovered by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX). The ribbon is a region of enhanced fluxes of ENAs crossing almost the entire sky. Soon after the ribbon's discovery, it was realized that the enhancement of the fluxes could be in the directions where the radial component of the interstellar magnetic field around the heliopause is close to zero. Our model includes secondary charge exchange of the interstellar H atoms with the interstellar pickup protons outside the heliopause. Previously, in the frame of a kinetic-gasdynamic model where pickup protons are treated as a separate kinetic component, it was shown that the interstellar pickup protons outside the heliopause may be a significant source of ENAs at energies above 1 keV. The key difference between the current work and the previous models is in the assumption of no pitch-angle scattering for newly created pickup protons outside the heliopause. We demonstrate that in the limit of no pitch-angle scattering ribbon of enhanced ENA fluxes appears in the model, and this may qualitatively explain the ribbon discovered by IBEX.

Mass‐dependent evolution of energetic neutral atoms energy spectra during storm time substorms: Implication for O+ nonadiabatic acceleration

We examine the temporal variations of energy spectra of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) detected by the High Energy Neutral Atom imager (HENA) onboard the Imager for Magnetopause‐to‐Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) satellite during three substorms on 21 October 2001 and three substorms on 19 March 2002; the substorms occurred during the storm main phase. The ENA energy used in the present study ranges from 10 to 198 keV for hydrogen and from 29 to 222 keV for oxygen. We use ENA data obtained from two independent areas of a HENA image, for which HENA lines of sight pass through the inner magnetosphere (∼−6 RE &lt; X &lt; ∼−3 RE around the magnetic equator) and the outer magnetosphere (X &lt; ∼−6 RE around the magnetic equator). The analyses of the selected ENA data yield the following results: (1) The oxygen ENA flux displays 20–30 min bursts during all substorms, while the hydrogen ENA flux did not increase or less significantly increased than the oxygen flux. (2) The temporal evolution of energy spectra is mass dependent for all examined substorms. (3) For two of the substorms, the oxygen flux ratio between before and after a substorm increases with increasing energy, indicating the hardening of an O+ energy spectrum. (4) The flux ratio for the inner image area is comparable to or higher than that in the outer area. The results confirm that nonadiabatic acceleration with regard to the first adiabatic invariant did occur in the near‐Earth magnetotail (X &gt; −8 RE). Although the influence of the nonadiabatic acceleration appears in the inner magnetosphere (∼−6 RE &lt; X &lt; ∼−3 RE) as well as the outer magnetosphere (∼−8 RE &lt; X &lt; ∼−6 RE), it is not clear from the present results whether O+ energization in the inner magnetosphere is due to nonadiabatic acceleration in the inner magnetosphere or adiabatic transport of O+ nonadiabatically accelerated in the outer magnetosphere. It is likely, for at least the two substorms, that the nonadiabatic acceleration makes a more significant contribution to O+ energization than increase of the O+ density in the plasma sheet.

PICKUP IONS FROM ENERGETIC NEUTRAL ATOMS

The inner source of pickup ions (PUIs) was once thought to derive exclusively from the interaction between solar wind and interplanetary grains near the Sun. Recently, however, Gruntman & Izmodenov suggested that inner source hydrogen may derive from energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) from the outer heliosphere. Here, following up on these authors' proposal, we show that the ENA flux recently observed by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer is sufficiently large to actually produce the observed inner source pickup proton densities. We then go on to examine the possibility that solar wind heavy ions, which undergo multiple consecutive electron captures from neutral interstellar atoms in the outer heliosphere, could constitute another significant source of ENAs, thus producing an inner source PUI composition similar to the solar wind, as observed. Because the ENA source is distributed, the generation of PUIs from ENAs occurs throughout the heliosphere, and the ENA source of PUI likely contributes significantly to the metallic elements of anomalous cosmic rays (ACRs), which were previously unexplained. Thus, we show that ENAs create a large fraction of the inner source PUI and provide an extended source of PUIs in the heliosphere that likely generates the metallic ACRs.

MICROSTRUCTURE OF THE HELIOSPHERIC TERMINATION SHOCK: IMPLICATIONS FOR ENERGETIC NEUTRAL ATOM OBSERVATIONS

The Voyager 2 plasma observations of the proton distribution function downstream of the quasi-perpendicular heliospheric termination shock (TS) showed that upstream thermal solar wind ions played little role in the shock dissipation mechanism, being essentially transmitted directly through the shock. Instead, the hot supra-thermal pickup ion (PUI) component is most likely responsible for the dissipation at the TS. Consequently, the downstream proton distribution function will be a complicated superposition of relatively cool thermal solar wind protons and hot PUIs that have experienced either direct transmission or reflection at the TS cross-shock potential. We develop a simple model for the TS microstructure that allows us to construct approximate proton distribution functions for the inner heliosheath. The distribution function models are compared to κ-distributions, showing the correspondence between the two. Since the interpretation of energetic neutral atom (ENA) fluxes measured at 1 AU by IBEX will depend sensitively on the form of the underlying proton distribution function, we use a three-dimensional MHD-kinetic global model to model ENA spectra at 1 AU and ENA skymaps across the IBEX energy range. We consider both solar minimum and solar maximum-like global models, showing how ENA skymap structure can be related to global heliospheric structure. We suggest that the ENA spectra may allow us to probe the directly the microphysics of the TS, while the ENA skymaps reveal heliospheric structure and, at certain energies, are distinctly different during solar minimum and maximum.