Energetic Neutral Atoms Research Articles

Evolving Outer Heliosphere: Tracking Solar Wind Transients from 1 au to the VLISM with IBEX and Voyager 1

Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) observations of energetic neutral atom (ENA) fluxes from the heliosphere have greatly enriched our understanding of the interaction of the solar wind (SW) with the local interstellar medium (LISM). However, there has been recent controversy surrounding the inability of most ENA models to produce as high an intensity of ∼0.5–6 keV ENAs as IBEX observes at 1 au, especially as a function of time. In our previous study (E. J. Zirnstein et al.), we introduced a new model that utilizes a data-driven magnetohydrodynamic simulation of the SW–LISM interaction to propagate pickup ions through the heliosheath (HS) after they are nonadiabatically heated at the heliospheric termination shock. E. J. Zirnstein et al. only simulated and analyzed IBEX observations from the direction of Voyager 2. In this study, we expand our model to include fluxes from the direction of Voyager 1, as well as in the low-latitude part (middle) of the ribbon (10° below the ecliptic plane). We show that the model results at Voyager 1 are consistent with E. J. Zirnstein et al.’s results at Voyager 2 in terms of a secondary ENA source contribution of ≲20% from both directions. Our results in the middle of the ribbon also reproduce the data, when including a time-dependent secondary ENA source. Finally, we demonstrate with our simulation that three large pressure waves likely merged in the VLISM and were observed by Voyager 1 as “pf2,” while at least one of the wave’s effects in the HS was observed by IBEX as a brief enhancement in ENA flux in early 2016.

The Effects of Turbulence on Heliosheath Ions and Implications for Energetic Neutral Atoms

The distribution of ions in the heliosheath—the region between the heliospheric termination shock and the heliopause—is important for understanding remote observations of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs). The ion distributions were estimated previously based on hybrid simulations of the heating and evolution of solar wind and interstellar pickup ions across the solar wind termination shock, but these estimates only provide the distributions near the shock. In this work, we use self-consistent hybrid kinetic simulations to investigate the effects of turbulence on ion distributions in the heliosheath. The simulations are compared against Voyager observations, constraining the feasible amplitude and compressibility of turbulence. We find that the heating due to turbulent dissipation can lead to a significant increase in the temperature of thermal solar wind ions. Both turbulent velocity fluctuations and the heating of solar wind ions increase the charge-exchange source for ENAs at low energies (around 100 eV), where current ENA models underpredict observations by more than an order of magnitude. However, the effects of turbulence are likely not strong enough to fully explain these discrepancies.

Merging Mesoscale Magnetotail Features and Ground B‐Field Perturbation Network Connectivity During Substorm Activity

AbstractThe connection between the magnetosphere and ionosphere is particularly dynamic during substorms. Mesoscale features in the magnetotail are consistent with substorm activity, including magnetic reconnection in the tail, flow channels, and particle injections. Observations of substorm related phenomena can be made using energetic neutral atom (ENA) imagers, in situ satellite measurements, and ground based magnetic field perturbation measurements. Analysis of the 10 October 2014 isolated substorm event is presented. Comparison of the spatial and temporal dynamics of the features seen in equatorial maps generated from ENA data are made with inner magnetosphere in situ measurements and ionospheric features with network analysis of the SuperMAG data. An MHD simulation of the event using OpenGGCM is also compared with the data.

The Plasma Pressure Contribution from Low-energy (0.05–2 keV) Energetic Neutral Atoms in the Heliosheath

Energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) from the heliosphere are a unique means to remotely image the boundary regions of our heliosphere. The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) has been very successful in measuring these ENAs since 2008 at energies from tens of eV to 6 keV. The main question raised by one solar cycle of IBEX-Lo observations at 0.05–2 keV is the strong and ubiquitous underestimation of several model predictions compared with actually measured ENA intensities at energies between 100 and 500 eV. This study converts the observed ENA intensities into plasma pressures for different sky directions and considers the implications for our understanding of the heliosheath and the source of the observed ENAs.

3D aeronomy of two mini-neptunes in the HD 63433 system and their in-transit absorption in Ly α and metastable He i lines

ABSTRACT The numerical simulation of the HD 63433 system is performed with the aim to study upper atmospheres of two mini-Neptunes, planets b and c, interacting with the stellar wind of the parent star. The obtained results demonstrate that both exoplanets form the extended envelopes with strong supersonic outflows. The synthetic absorption profiles in the Ly α line show that under moderate stellar wind conditions, similar to those of the normal solar wind, the energetic neutral atoms contribute to the absorption in the high-velocity blue wing of the line at a level of tens per cent. The absorption in metastable helium He i(23S) line appears rather weak and below the detection limit by current instruments. An important feature revealed by the simulations is that the tail of escaping atmospheric material of the inner planet disturbs the stellar wind at orbital location of the outer planet and might, therefore, affect its observation in Ly α line.

Statistical Validation of Multiple Related Data Sets—Case Study Using Interstellar Boundary Explorer Satellite Data

Space scientists often face the question of whether data collected by different instruments are measurements of the same source population. This paper proposes a statistical validation method for evaluating the agreement between such related data sets. It offers a detailed case study focused on validating a new data set from the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission, which serves as a practical how-to guide for similar analyses. Since 2008, the IBEX satellite has been gathering data on heliospheric energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) while being exposed to various sources of background noise, such as cosmic rays and solar energetic particles. The IBEX mission initially released only a qualified triple-coincidence (qABC) data product, which was designed to provide observations of ENAs free of background contamination. Further measurements revealed that the qABC data were in fact susceptible to contamination, having relatively low ENA counts and high background rates. To mitigate this issue, the mission team recently considered releasing a certain qualified double-coincidence (qBC) data product, which has roughly twice the detection rate of the qABC data product. This paper presents a simulation-based validation of the new qBC data product against the already-released qABC data product. The results show that the qBCs can plausibly be said to be measuring the same source population as the qABCs up to an average absolute deviation of 3.6%. Visual diagnostics provide additional confirmation of source rate coherence across data products. The framework introduced here is general and can be applied to other validation problems both within and outside the field of space physics.

An Explainable Deep-learning Model of Proton Auroras on Mars

Proton auroras are widely observed on the dayside of Mars, identified as a significant intensity enhancement in the hydrogen Lyα (121.6 nm) emission at altitudes of ∼110 and 150 km. Solar wind protons penetrating as energetic neutral atoms into Mars’ thermosphere are thought to be primarily responsible for these auroras. Recent observations of spatially localized “patchy” proton auroras suggest a possible direct deposition of protons into Mars’ atmosphere during unstable solar wind conditions. Improving our understanding of proton auroras is therefore important for characterizing the interaction of the solar wind with Mars’ atmosphere. Here, we develop a first purely data-driven model of proton auroras using Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) in situ observations and limb scans of Lyα emissions between 2014 and 2022. We train an artificial neural network that reproduces individual Lyα intensities and relative Lyα peak intensity enhancements with Pearson correlations of ∼94% and ∼60% respectively for the test data, along with a faithful reconstruction of the shape of the observed altitude profiles of Lyα emission. By performing a Shapley Additive Explanations (SHAP) analysis, we find that solar zenith angle, solar longitude, CO2 atmosphere variability, solar wind speed, and temperature are the most important features for the modeled Lyα peak intensity enhancements. Additionally, we find that the modeled peak intensity enhancements are high for early local-time hours, particularly near polar latitudes, and the induced magnetic fields are weaker. Through SHAP analysis, we also identify the influence of biases in the training data and interdependences between the measurements used for the modeling, and an improvement of those aspects can significantly improve the performance and applicability of the ANN model.

Inferring the Interstellar Magnetic Field Direction from Energetic Neutral Atom Observations of the Heliotail

Determining the magnitude and direction of the interstellar magnetic field (B ISM) is a long-standing problem. To date, some methods to infer the direction and magnitude have utilized best-fit models to the positions of the termination shock and heliopause measured by Voyager 1 and 2. Other models use the circularity of the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) ribbon assuming a secondary energetic neutral atom (ENA) mechanism. Previous studies have revealed that the B ISM organizes the orientation of the heliotail with respect to the solar meridian. Here we propose a new way to infer the direction of the B ISM based on ENA observations of the heliotail. IBEX observations of the heliotail have revealed high-latitude lobes of enhanced ENA flux at energies >2 keV. Analyses showed that the high-latitude lobes are nearly aligned with the solar meridian, while also exhibiting a rotation with solar cycle. We show, using steady-state solar wind conditions, that the inclination of the lobes reproduced with commonly used values for the angle (α BV ) between B ISM and the interstellar flow in the hydrogen deflection plane (40° < α BV < 60°) is inconsistent with the IBEX ENA observations. We report that 0° < α BV < 20° best replicates the heliotail lobe inclinations observed by IBEX. Additionally, our model results indicate that the variation of the solar magnetic field magnitude with solar cycle causes the longitudinal rotation of the lobes observed by IBEX by affecting the inclination of the lobes.

WawHelioIonMP: A Semiempirical Tool for the Determination of Latitudinal Variation in the Ionization Rate of Interstellar Hydrogen and the Solar Wind

The latitudinal structure of the solar wind varies during the cycle of solar activity. Analysis of this variation is important for understanding the solar activity and interpretation of observations of heliospheric energetic neutral hydrogen atoms and interstellar neutral (ISN) atoms inside the heliosphere, which yield information on the heliosphere and its interaction with the interstellar medium. Existing methods of retrieving this information from indirect remote-sensing measurements of phenomena, including the heliospheric backscatter glow and interplanetary scintillations of remote radio sources, are challenging to apply in real time. Here, we propose a method WawHelioIonMP of approximate retrieval of latitudinal profiles of the ionization rates of ISN H using a machine-learning-based interpretation of the helioglow. Assuming that we know their history during two past solar cycles and have observations of the helioglow for close-to-circumsolar circles with a radius close to 90°, we derive statistically an algebraic relation between the ionization profiles and lightcurves. With the relation reversed, we are then able to derive the ionization rate profiles based on observed light curves, such as those planned for the GLObal solar Wind Structure (GLOWS) experiment on the forthcoming NASA mission Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP). The application of this method is straightforward and rapid because complex simulations are no longer needed. We present the method of retrieval of the profiles of the ionization rates, leaving the discussion of details of the decomposition of the retrieved ionization rate profiles into profiles of the solar wind speed and density to a future paper.

Energetic Neutral Atoms Detected in the 2022 February 15 Solar Energetic Particle Event

Energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) are expected to be produced near the Sun during large solar energetic particle (SEP) events. However, their detection by SEP instruments near 1 au has been limited. The clearest reported measurement has been from the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) during the 2006 December 5 SEP event. Additional evidence of ENAs has been found through reanalysis of observations by the Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer obtained near the equator in low Earth orbit and associated with several large X-ray flares and fast coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Here we describe another detection of ENAs from the STEREO Low Energy Telescope associated with the large 2022 February 15 SEP event. Given the timing and spectrum of the ENAs and the location of the source region (behind the east limb from STEREO’s viewpoint), these ENAs are most likely a result of acceleration by a CME-driven shock when the CME was at approximately 2–3 R S. The possibility of a postflare loop origin is considered unlikely.

Characterizing Precipitation Behaviors of H− in the Martian Atmosphere

AbstractSolar wind protons can charge exchange with the extensive hydrogen corona of Mars, resulting in a significant flux of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs). As these solar wind hydrogen ENAs precipitate into the upper atmosphere, they can experience electron attachment or detachment, resulting in populations of H− and H+, respectively, with upstream velocity. We seek to characterize the behavior of H− in the ionosphere of Mars through a combination of in situ data analysis and mathematical models. Observations indicate that measurable H− precipitation in the ionosphere of Mars is rare, occurring during only 1.8% of available observations. These events occur primarily during high energy solar wind conditions near perihelion. We also compare H− fluxes to those of H+ and find that H− fluxes are ∼4.5 times less than H+, indicating preferential conversion of hydrogen ENAs to H+. We develop a simple model describing the evolution of the charged and neutral fraction of ENAs and H− ions versus altitude. We find that 0.29%–0.78% of ENAs are converted to H− for solar wind energies 1–3 keV. We also predict that the effects of photodetachment on the H‐H− system are non‐negligible.

Energy spectra of energetic neutral hydrogen backscattered and sputtered from the lunar regolith by the solar wind

Context. The solar wind impinging on the lunar surface results in the emission of energetic neutral atoms. This particle population is one of the sources of the lunar exosphere. Aims. We present a semi-empirical model to describe the energy spectra of the neutral emitted atoms. Methods. We used data from the Advanced Small Analyzer for Neutrals (ASAN) on board the Yutu-2 rover of the Chang’E-4 mission to calculate high-resolution average energy spectra of the energetic neutral hydrogen flux from the surface. We then constructed a semi-empirical model to describe these spectra. Results. Excellent agreement between the model and the observed energetic neutral hydrogen data was achieved. The model is also suitable for describing heavier neutral species emitted from the surface. Conclusions. A semi-analytical model describing the energy spectrum of energetic neutral atoms emitted from the lunar surface has been developed and validated by data obtained from the lunar surface.

Backscattering of Ions Impacting Ganymede’s Surface as a Source for Energetic Neutral Atoms

Jupiter’s largest moon Ganymede has its own intrinsic magnetic field, which forms a magnetosphere that is embedded within Jupiter’s corotating magnetospheric plasma. This scenario has been shown to lead to complex ion precipitation patterns that have been connected to heterogeneous space weathering across Ganymede’s surface. We present the first simulations of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) from backscattered H, O, and S ions, accounting for magnetospheric plasma precipitation and Ganymede’s heterogeneous surface composition. Our model shows that backscattering introduces significant atomic H and O populations to Ganymede’s ENA environment, which will allow remote observation of ion–surface interactions at Ganymede. There are distinct differences between H ENA emissions at Ganymede and the Moon, with orders of magnitude lower fluxes below 1 keV but a significant tail above 1 keV. Backscattered H ENAs will also dominate over sputtered H contributions above energies of around 1 keV, while O ENAs are less likely to be distinguished from sputtered ENAs. The backscattered H ENAs thus represent a promising candidate for studying the plasma–surface interaction on Ganymede with future observations of ESA’s JUICE mission.

Complementary interstellar detections from the heliotail

The heliosphere is a protective shield around the solar system created by the Sun’s interaction with the local interstellar medium (LISM) through the solar wind, transients, and interplanetary magnetic field. The shape of the heliosphere is directly linked with interactions with the surrounding LISM, in turn affecting the space environment within the heliosphere. Understanding the shape of the heliosphere, the LISM properties, and their interactions is critical for understanding the impacts within the solar system and for understanding other astrospheres. Understanding the shape of the heliosphere requires an understanding of the heliotail, as the shape is highly dependent upon the heliotail and its LISM interactions. The heliotail additionally presents an opportunity for more direct in situ measurement of interstellar particles from within the heliosphere, given the likelihood of magnetic reconnection and turbulent mixing between the LISM and the heliotail. Measurements in the heliotail should be made of pickup ions, energetic neutral atoms, low energy neutrals, and cosmic rays, as well as interstellar ions that may be injected into the heliosphere through processes such as magnetic reconnection, which can create a direct magnetic link from the LISM into the heliosphere. The Interstellar Probe mission is an ideal opportunity for measurement either along a trajectory passing through the heliotail, via the flank, or by use of a pair of spacecraft that explore the heliosphere both tailward and noseward to yield a more complete picture of the shape of the heliosphere and to help us better understand its interactions with the LISM.

Fourteen Years of Energetic Neutral Atom Observations from IBEX

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) has been observing the outer heliosphere and its interactions with the very local interstellar medium (VLISM) via measurements of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) for over 14 yr. We discovered the IBEX Ribbon—a structure completely unanticipated by any prior theory or model—that almost certainly resides beyond the heliopause in the VLISM. We also characterized the other major source of heliospheric ENAs, the globally distributed flux (GDF), produced largely in the heliosheath between the termination shock and heliopause. In this study, we make three major new contributions. First, we validate, provide, and analyze the most recent 3 yr of IBEX-Hi (0.5–6 keV FWHM) data (2020–2022) for the first time. Second, we link these observations to the prior 11 yr of observations, exploring long-term variations. Finally, we provide the first IBEX team-validated Ribbon/GDF separation scheme and separated maps. Because of the uncertainty in separating different line-of-sight integrated sources, we provide not just best guess (median) maps, but also maps with upper and lower reasonable values of Ribbon and GDF fluxes, along with bounding fluxes that add the uncertainties to the upper and lower values. This allows theories and models to be compared with a range of possible values that the IBEX team believes are consistent with data. These observations, along with the reanalysis of the prior 11 yr of IBEX-Hi data, provide new insights and even further develop our detailed understanding of the heliosphere’s interaction with the local interstellar medium unlocked by IBEX.

A Novel Backtracing Model to Study the Emission of Energetic Neutral Atoms at Titan

AbstractTo study the emission of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) at Titan, we have developed a novel model that takes into account a spacecraft detector's limited field of view and traces energetic magnetospheric particles backward in time. ENAs are generated by charge exchange between Titan's atmospheric neutrals and energetic magnetospheric ions. By tracing these ions through the draped electromagnetic fields in Titan's environment, we generate synthetic ENA images and compare them to Cassini observations from the TA flyby. Our model can reproduce the intensity and morphology of the observed images only when field line draping is included. Using a realistic detector geometry is necessary to determine the influence of this draping on the ENA images: the non‐uniform fields eliminate a localized feature of increased ENA flux, which is a different effect than in models utilizing an infinitely extended detector. We demonstrate that ENA observations from TA contain signatures of the time‐varying Saturnian magnetospheric environment at Titan: the modeled ENA emission morphology and the effect of field line draping are different for the background field vectors measured during the inbound and outbound legs of TA. The visibility and qualitative effect of the draping on observed ENA images vary strongly between different detector locations and pointings. Depending on the viewing geometry, field line draping may add segments of elevated flux to the synthetic ENA images, remove such segments, or have no qualitative effect at all. Our study emphasizes the challenges and the potential for remote sensing of Titan's interaction region using ENA imaging.

Dependences of Energetic Neutral Atoms Energy on the Solar Wind Energy and Solar Zenith Angle Observed by the Chang’E-4 Rover

Solar wind can directly interact with the lunar surface and bring a space weathering effect. Some solar wind protons can be scattered as energetic neutral atoms (ENAs), which include rich information of the solar wind–surface interaction. However, people still know little about the ENA truth on the lunar ground due to the lack of in situ measurements. Different from the previous in-orbit measurements, here we present the first ground-based ENA measurements by the Chang’E-4 rover and find a good correlation between the mean ENA energy and the solar wind energy. Moreover, the loss rate of ENA energy can strongly depend on both the solar wind energy and the solar zenith angle (SZA), in which the energy loss rate can be enhanced by 73% when the solar wind energy increases from 400 to 1400 eV and can be reduced by 32% when the SZA increases from 57° to 71°. Combined with numerical simulations by SDTrimSP code, we propose that the solar wind protons can penetrate deeper into the lunar surface with a longer path length when the solar wind energy is higher or the SZA is lower, which results in a larger energy loss rate for the scattered ENAs. Our results provide an important constraint for the solar wind–surface research and have general implications in studying the surficial space weathering of the Moon and other airless bodies.

Characterizing and Removing Ultra-Violet Contamination in Ion Observations on Board Tianwen-1

The Mars Ion and Neutral Particle Analyzer (MINPA) onboard Tianwen-1 aims to study the interaction between Mars and the solar wind via in situ ion measurement and energetic neutral atom imaging. Despite the efforts for Ultra-Violet suppression in MINPA design, 0.48% of ion observations from November 2021 to July 2022 were identified as UV-contaminated. The UV emissions primarily penetrate into the instrument through the ENA entrance. Statistically, the distribution of the UV contamination in phase space typically spans 3 to 4 azimuth sectors. The contamination is uniformly distributed across the polar dimension while, in the energy and mass dimensions, it is proportional to the time-of-flight duration. Comparisons between the in-flight performance and ground calibration suggest that azimuthal broadening and intensity variations of the contamination may result from differing responses across the azimuthal sectors. Based on the characteristics of the UV impact on MINPA ion observations, a removal algorithm is proposed to reduce contamination while preserving valid signals, which improves the data quality effectively and benefits the interpretation of MINPA’s ion measurements in the Martian space environment. The cause, effect, and distribution of the UV contamination obtained by this study may serve as a reference for other space ion observations.

Towards Improved Heliosphere Sky Map Estimation with Theseus

The Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) satellite has been in orbit since 2008 and detects energy-resolved energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) originating from the heliosphere. Different regions of the heliosphere generate ENAs at different rates. It is of scientific interest to take the data collected by IBEX and estimate spatial maps of heliospheric ENA rates (referred to as sky maps) at higher resolutions than before. These sky maps will subsequently be used to discern between competing theories of heliosphere properties that are not currently possible. The data IBEX collects present challenges to sky map estimation. The two primary challenges are noisy and irregularly spaced data collection and the IBEX instrumentation’s point spread function. In essence, the data collected by IBEX are both noisy and biased for the underlying sky map of inferential interest. In this article, we present a two-stage sky map estimation procedure called Theseus. In Stage 1, Theseus estimates a blurred sky map from the noisy and irregularly spaced data using an ensemble approach that leverages projection pursuit regression and generalized additive models. In Stage 2, Theseus deblurs the sky map by deconvolving the PSF with the blurred map using regularization. Unblurred sky map uncertainties are computed via bootstrapping. We compare Theseus to a method closely related to the one operationally used today by the IBEX Science Operation Center (ISOC) on both simulated and real data. Theseus outperforms ISOC in nearly every considered metric on simulated data, indicating that Theseus is an improvement over the current state of the art.

The Impact of Pickup Ion Thermal Spread on Pickup Ion Ring-beam-driven Instabilities and Scattering in the Outer Heliosheath

The present study investigates the unstable waves driven by the pickup ions of ring-beam distributions with various pickup angles and pickup ion temperatures in the outer heliosheath, using both linear instability analysis and hybrid simulations. While previous papers have generally assumed specific pickup ion temperatures, this study takes a more comprehensive approach by examining a wide range of pickup ion temperatures that may occur in the outer heliosheath. Our one-dimensional simulations demonstrate that regardless of the initial pickup ion temperature, the pitch-angle scattering of the pickup ions at small pickup angles saturates before the pickup ions can reach the hemisphere of negative parallel velocities with respect to the background magnetic field in velocity space, while at a 90° pickup angle, the pickup ions of ring distributions attain a significant level of isotropy. In contrast, the two-dimensional simulation results show that at all pickup angles, increasing the pickup ion temperature only slightly reduces the pickup ion scattering rate, but does not prevent the pickup ions from reaching the hemisphere of negative parallel velocities. Overall, the results do not align with the requirements of the earlier proposed scenarios for the secondary energetic neutral atom (ENA) mechanism of the Interstellar Boundary Explorer ENA ribbon, which demand either weak pickup ion scattering in the outer heliosheath or at least incomplete pickup ion scattering in the off-ribbon directions.