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Oxygen in the heliosphereOxygen within the heliosphere, whether neutral or ionized, comes from both the external source in the local interstellar medium (LISM) and internal sources. If transient cometary sources are neglected, Jupiter is the strongest of the internal sources by virtue of its corotation and charge exchange driven neutral wind. O(+) pickup ions are born where the penetrating neutrals lose an electron as a result of photoionization, charge exchange with solar wind protons, or solar wind electron impact ionization. The region of the heliosphere from which these pickup ions arise depends on the phase of the solar cycle as well as on the velocities of the neutrals. The present model of neutral O populations and their ionization suggests that Jovian pickup ions can dominate the inner heliospheric O(+) population if the LISM neutrals are strongly filtered at the heliopause, or are excluded by strong ionizing fluxes from the Sun. Other heliospheric species such as sulfur and nitrogen may have similar origins. These planetary sources need to be taken into account in the interpretation of interplanetary gas and ion composition observations.
Document ID
19950046287
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
External Source(s)
Authors
Luhmann, J. G.
(University of California, Los Angeles, CA United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
January 7, 1994
Publication Information
Publication: Journal of Geophysical Research
Volume: 99
Issue: A7
ISSN: 0148-0227
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
95A77886
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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