Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-10-2011
Publication Title
Letters of the Astrophysical Journal
Department
Department of Physics and Astronomy
Abstract
We report results of a theoretical investigation of polarization of the X-ray emissions induced in charge-exchange collisions of fully stripped solar wind ions C6+and O8+ with the heliospheric hydrogen atoms. The polarization of X-ray emissions has been computed for line-of-sight observations within the ecliptic plane as a function of solar wind ion velocities, including a range of velocities corresponding to the slow and fast solar wind, and Coronal Mass Ejections. To determine the variability of polarization of heliospheric X-ray emissions, the polarization has been computed for solar minimum conditions with self-consistent parameters of the solar wind plasma and heliospheric gas and compared with the polarization calculated for an averaged solar activity. We predict the polarization of charge-exchange X-rays to be between 3% and 8%, depending on the line-of-sight geometry, solar wind ion velocity, and the selected emission lines.
DOI
10.1088/2041-8205/732/2/L21
Original Citation
M. Gacesa et al 2011 ApJL 732 L21
Dartmouth Digital Commons Citation
Gacesa, M.; Müller, H.-R.; Côté, R.; and Kharchenko, V., "Polarization of the Charge-Exchange X-Rays Induced in the Heliosphere" (2011). Dartmouth Scholarship. 1797.
https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa/1797
