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Solar wind at the night side of the Moon
Why is it in news?
- A study using observations from Chandrayaan 1 mission has found how plasma particles from the solar wind make their way into the Moon’s night side.
- Moon’s night side long thought to be devoid of plasma particles.
- This has significance in understanding bodies like the Moon which do not have global magnetic fields.
More in news
- Plasma environment of the Moon:(1) In recent times, there has been a huge interest in understanding the plasma environment of the Moon.(2) It is generated mainly by its interaction with the solar plasma wind flowing towards it from the Sun.(3) This plasma wind consists of charged particles such as protons and is partly absorbed by the side of the Moon facing the sun.(4) The rest of the solar plasma wind incident on the Moon flows around it, but leaves a wake (a void) on the side not facing the sun (the night-side of the Moon).
- Recent studies:
- Earlier, it was believed that this wake was devoid of any particles.
- But recent Moon missions such as Chandrayaan-1, Kaguya, Chang’e-1 and Artemis have found evidence of refilling of near lunar wake (heights of 100 km to 200 km above the lunar surface on the night side) with solar wind protons.
- No global magnetic field:(1) Unlike the Earth, the Moon has no global magnetic field originating from a magnetized core.(2) It has weak crustal fields that are too small to shield it globally from charged solar plasma particles incident on it.
- Magnetic anomalies:(1) At some regions the crustal fields are quite strong and these are known as magnetic anomalies. The plasma particles scatter off these anomalous crustal fields.(2) The present work shows that solar wind protons scattered from the magnetic anomaly located at the South Pole Aitken basin on the Moon can enter the near wake region.
- Future course: It can help us study any celestial body which has no atmosphere or global magnetic field, such as asteroids and some planetary satellites.
Source
The Hindu