Transport of solar wind plasma onto the lunar nightside surface

Abstract

We present first measurements of energetic neutral atoms that originate from solar wind plasma having interacted with the lunar nightside surface. We observe two distinct energetic neutral atom (ENA) distributions parallel to the terminator, the spectral shape, and the intensity of both of which indicate that the particles originate from the bulk solar wind flow. The first distribution modifies the dayside ENA flux to reach ~6° into the nightside and is well explained by the kinetic temperature of the solar wind protons. The second distribution, which was not predicted, reaches from the terminator to up to 30° beyond the terminator, with a maximum at ~102° in solar zenith angle. As most likely wake transport processes for this second distribution we identify acceleration by the ambipolar electric field and by the negatively charged lunar nightside surface. In addition, our data provide the first observation indicative of a global solar zenith angle dependence of positive dayside surface potentials.