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| Paper: |
Direct Modeling of Neutral Helium in the Heliosphere |
| Volume: |
459, 6th International Conference of Numerical Modeling of Space Plasma Flows (ASTRONUM 2011) |
| Page: |
228 |
| Authors: |
Müller, H.-R. |
| Abstract: |
Several years of neutral particle measurements by the NASA/IBEX
mission have yielded direct observations of interstellar neutral
helium and oxygen. The data indicate the presence of secondary
neutral helium and oxygen, which are created within the
heliosphere by charge exchange involving helium or oxygen ions.
This contribution describes a detailed conserving calculation
method based on Keplerian orbits that has been developed to
characterize helium distribution functions throughout the
heliosphere, in particular in the innermost heliosphere, while
accounting for loss and production of neutral particles along
their path. Coupled with global heliosphere models of plasma
distributions, this code is useful for predicting the fluxes of
heavy neutral atoms at spacecraft detectors, so enabling
inferences on the characteristics of the interstellar medium. |
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