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Two-dimensional guiding-center model of the solar wind-moon interaction

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Abstract

This paper presents a continued study of the two-dimensional guiding-center model of the solar wind interaction with the Moon. The characteristics theory and the computational method are discussed. The magnetic permeability of plasma is (1 + β/2)−1 in the solar wind flow upstream of the Moon, and it changes to 1 in the void region of the lunar wake. The gradual change of the magnetic permeability in the penumbral region from the interplanetary condition to the void condition is explained as the source of field perturbations in the lunar wake. Perturbations of the magnetic field propagate as magnetoacoustic waves in a frame of reference moving with the plasma flow. Computer solutions were obtained to show that (i) the two principal perturbations of the magnetic field in the lunar wake (the umbral increase and the penumbral decrease) are confined to a region bounded by a Mach cone tangent to the lunar body, and (ii) the penumbral increases occur outside the lunar Mach cone. Computer solutions are also used to identify the source of field perturbations and to simulate the solar wind-moon interaction under varying interplanetary conditions.

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  1. Dept. of Space Science and Applied Physics, The Catholic University of America, 20017, Washington, D.C., U.S.A.

    Y. C. Whang

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  1. Y. C. Whang
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Whang, Y.C. Two-dimensional guiding-center model of the solar wind-moon interaction. Sol Phys 14, 489–502 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00221333

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