Solar wind plasma interaction with Gerasimovich lunar magnetic anomaly

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Abstract

Abstract We present the results of the first local hybrid simulations (particle ions and fluid electrons) for the solar wind plasma interaction with realistic lunar crustal fields. We use a three‐dimensional hybrid model of plasma and an empirical model of the Gerasimovich magnetic anomaly based on Lunar Prospector observations. We examine the effects of low and high solar wind dynamic pressures on this interaction when the Gerasimovich magnetic anomaly is located at nearly 20 ∘ solar zenith angle. We find that for low solar wind dynamic pressure, the crustal fields mostly deflect the solar wind plasma, form a plasma void at very close distances to the Moon (below 20 km above the surface), and reflect nearly 5% of the solar wind in charged form. In contrast, during high solar wind dynamic pressure, the crustal fields are more compressed, the solar wind is less deflected, and the lunar surface is less shielded from impinging solar wind flux, but the solar wind ion reflection is more locally intensified (up to 25%) compared to low dynamic pressures. The difference is associated with an electrostatic potential that forms over the Gerasimovich magnetic anomaly as well as the effects of solar wind plasma on the crustal fields during low and high dynamic pressures. Finally, we show that an antimoonward Hall electric field is the dominant electric field for ∼3 km altitude and higher, and an ambipolar electric field has a noticeable contribution to the electric field at close distances (<3 km) to the Moon.

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