Published in
Elsevier, Advances in Space Research, 12(50), p. 1600-1606
DOI: 10.1016/j.asr.2011.12.003
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The Solar Wind interactions with Lunar Magnetic Anomalies: A case study of the Chang'E-2 plasma data near the Serenitatis antipode
,
J.-J. Liu,
H.-B. Zhang,
W. Zuo,
Y. Su,
W.-B. Wen,
H. Li,
H. Rème,
I. Dandouras,
C. Aoustin,
M. Wang,
X. Tan,
J. Shen
and other authors.
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Abstract
In this paper, we present the first and preliminary results on the near-Moon plasma environment, based on the spectrogram data obtained with the Solar Wind Ion Detector (SWID) onboard Chang'E-2 from four lunar orbits on 10–11 Oct 2010. These orbits, at a constant altitude of $100 km, approach gradually the Lunar Magnetic Anomaly (LMA) at the Serenitatis antipode. The data reveal tentatively a region with decrement in proton density and enhancement in temperature. The near coincidence of this region with the Ser-enitatis antipode probably suggests the presence of a minimagnetosphere associated with the LMA, which effectively shields and heats the incident Solar Wind (SW) protons.