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X‐ray emission from scattering and fluorescence of solar X‐rays at Venus and Mars
Author(s) -
Cravens Thomas E.,
Maurellis Ahilleas N.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2001gl013021
Subject(s) - venus , mars exploration program , atmosphere of venus , physics , scattering , carbon fibers , solar wind , absorption (acoustics) , atomic physics , astrophysics , materials science , astrobiology , optics , plasma , nuclear physics , composite number , composite material
X‐ray emission is modeled and x‐ray intensities are predicted for Venus and Mars. Two emission mechanisms are studied: (1) elastic scattering of solar x‐rays by atmospheric neutrals, (2) absorption of solar x‐rays in either the carbon or oxygen K‐shells followed by fluorescent emission of x‐rays. The carbon and oxygen atoms reside in the carbon dioxide molecules. We predict total soft x‐ray intensities of approximately 0.67 R for Venus and 0.15 R for Mars, corresponding to total soft x‐ray luminosities of about 35 MW and 2.5 MW, respectively. These luminosities exceed the x‐ray luminosities expected from the solar wind charge exchange mechanism.