Imaging Plasma Density Structures in the Soft X-Rays Generated by Solar Wind Charge Exchange with Neutrals

This book provides a comprehensive review of the soft X-rays emitted when the solar wind interacts with exospheric neutrals at Venus, Mars, comets, the Moon, and Earth. It shows how observations can be used to address research problems ranging from the nature of magnetic reconnection at the Earth's magnetopause to atmospheric loss at other planets. The book provides the theoretical basis for soft X-ray emission and describes simulations of the expected emissions, past observations by narrow field-of-view X-ray telescopes, and current efforts to develop a new generation of wide field-of-view telescopes capable of capturing the entire solar wind-obstacle interaction.

D. G. Sibeck is NASA’s Mission Scientist for the THEMIS and Van Allen Probes missions. He has extensive experience in analyzing and interpreting plasma, magnetic field, and energetic particle observations from the IMP-8, AMPTE, Geotail, Interball, Wind, GOES, THEMIS, Van Allen Probes, and MMS missions, as well as from ground-based magnetometers and numerical simulations. His research interests focus upon the interaction of the solar wind with the Earth’s magnetosphere, including processes at the magnetopause, in the magnetosheath, outer dayside magnetosphere, and high latitude ionosphere. He has both led and convened numerous NASA and NSF review panels, served as President of the NSF’s GEM Steering Committee, and served as President of the AGU’s SPA Section. He is the author or coauthor of over 350 publications in refereed scientific journals and has served as editor or associate editor for EOS, Advances in Space Research, GRL, and JASTP. Hereceived the AGU’s MacElwane award in 1992.