The Relationship Between the Energization of Moon-Originating Ions and Terrain Type on the Lunar Surface

Jae Hee Lee, Khan Hyuk Kim, Seul Min Baek, Ho Jin, Yoshifumi Saito, Masaki N. Nishino, Shoichiro Yokota

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Abstract

We analyze data acquired by the Kaguya satellite on 14 October 2008 when the Moon was in the terrestrial magnetotail lobe to gain new insight into the energization of ions originating from the Moon. The Moon-originating ions were detected over a broad range of latitudes from −80° to 50° above the Moon's dayside at ∼100 km altitude. The fluxes of the Moon-originating ions were observed at energies from ∼50 to ∼1,000 eV. Additionally, these ions exhibited a wide distribution pitch angle spanning from ∼45 to 90°. The energy levels of ions originating from the Moon show rapid changes, either increasing or decreasing by a factor of ∼10 within 8 min without the solar zenith angle dependence. Such rapid energy changes were observed over the highland regions. These observations are discussed in light of possible acceleration mechanisms of Moon-originating ions, including temporal and spatial effects.

Original languageEnglish
Article numbere2023JA032076
JournalJournal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Volume129
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2024

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© 2024. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

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