Related papers: Solar Wind at 33 AU: Setting Bounds on the Pluto I…
We study the interaction between the Moon and the solar wind using a three-dimensional hybrid plasma solver. The proton fluxes and electromagnetical fields are presented for typical solar wind conditions with different magnetic field…
The goal of our study is to detect and characterize the electromagnetic waves that can modify the electron distribution functions, with a special attention to whistler waves. We analyse in details the electric and magnetic field…
The loss of close-in planetary atmospheres is influenced by various physical processes, such as photoionisation, which could potentially affect the atmosphere survivability on a secular timescale. The amount of stellar radiation converted…
Context. During the last 30 years the surface of Pluto has been characterized, and its variability has been monitored, through continuous near-infrared spectroscopic observations. But in the visible range only few data are available. Aims.…
In-situ measurements by several spacecraft have revealed that the solar wind is frequently perturbed by transient structures (magnetic folds, jets, waves, flux-ropes) that propagate rapidly away from the Sun over large distances. Parker…
The POLAR Investigation of the Sun (POLARIS) mission uses a combination of a gravity assist and solar sail propulsion to place a spacecraft in a 0.48 AU circular orbit around the Sun with an inclination of 75 degrees with respect to solar…
The dust disk detected by Pioneer at a heliocentric distance of 18 AU is a fraction of the dust generated by the Kuiper belt outside 30 AU. New Horizons will find a very high flux of more than 10 hits per day for each square meter of…
The first two orbits of the Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft have enabled the first in situ measurements of the solar wind down to a heliocentric distance of 0.17 au (or 36 Rs). Here, we present an analysis of this data to study solar…
The small satellites of the Pluto system (Styx, Nix, Kerberos, and Hydra) have very low surface escape velocities, and impacts should therefore eject a large amount of material from their surfaces. We show that most of this material then…
The long-term evolution of the Sun's rotation period cannot be directly observed, and is instead inferred from trends in the measured rotation periods of other Sun-like stars. Assuming the Sun spins-down as it ages, following rotation rate…
Using magnetic field and plasma data acquired during "Phobos-2" mission in regions which have not been explored before, we study the solar wind interaction with Phobos. The draping magnetic field of the solar wind around Phobos appears at…
Given the inexorable increase in the Sun's luminosity, Earth will exit the habitable zone in ~1 Gyr. There is a negligible chance that Earth's orbit will change during that time through internal Solar System dynamics. However, there is a…
The atmosphere of Triton was probed directly by observing a ground-based stellar occultation on 6 October 2022. This rare event yielded 23 positive light curves collected from 13 separate observation stations contributing to our campaign.…
As both Parker Solar Probe (PSP) and Solar Orbiter (SolO) reach heliocentric distances closer to the Sun, they present an exciting opportunity to study the structure of CMEs in the inner heliosphere. We present an analysis of the global…
We present a focused parameter study of solar wind - magnetosphere interaction for the young Sun and Earth, $~3.5$ Ga ago, that relies on magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations for both the solar wind and the magnetosphere. By simulating the…
The origin of the highly eccentric, inclined, and resonance-locked orbit of Pluto has long been a puzzle. A possible explanation has been proposed recently [Malhotra, R., {\it Nature} 365:819-21 (1993)] which suggests that these…
The solar wind flow creates a wake behind any spacecraft immersed in it. We study the properties of this wake using the spherical electrostatic probes of the Electric Fields and Waves (EFW) instruments on the Cluster satellites. The…
The exploration of the Pluto-Charon system by the New Horizons spacecraft represents the first opportunity to understand the distribution of albedo and other photometric properties of the surfaces of objects in the Solar System's "Third…
The Sun is moving through a warm ($\sim$6500 K) and partly ionized local interstellar cloud (LIC) with a velocity of $\sim$26 km/s. Recent measurements of the ionization of the LIC (Wolff et al., 1999) suggest that interstellar helium in…
A combined fluid/kinetic model is developed to calculate thermally driven escape of N2 from Pluto's atmosphere for two solar heating conditions: no heating above 1450 km and solar minimum heating conditions. In the combined model,…