2009/11/04 by J. A. Carter, J. A Carter, S. Sembay +1 · 2 citations
Physics and Astronomy · #Astrophysics and Cosmic Phenomena #Charge exchange #Coronal mass ejection #Flux (metallurgy) #Interplanetary medium #Ion #Ionization #Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics #Line (geometry) #Plasma #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #Solar wind #astro-ph.EP #astro-ph.HE
paper · pdf · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2966.2009.15985.x
Accepted for publication in MNRAS, 30th October 2009. 13 pages, 10 figures, 3 tables
arxiv created 2009/11/04 · openalex publication_date 2009/12/18 · arxiv updated 2015/05/14 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
We present the analysis of an observation by XMM–Newton that exhibits strongly variable, low-energy diffuse X-ray line emission. We reason that this emission is due to localized solar wind charge exchange (SWCX), originating from a passing cloud of plasma associated with a Coronal mass ejection (CME) interacting with neutrals in the Earth's exosphere. This case of SWCX exhibits a much richer emission-line spectrum in comparison with previous examples of geocoronal SWCX or in interplanetary space. We show that emission from O viii is very prominent in the SWCX spectrum. The observed flux from oxygen ions of is consistent with SWCX resulting from a passing CME. Highly ionized silicon is also observed in the spectrum, and the presence of highly charged iron is an additional spectral indicator that we are observing emission from a CME. We argue that this is the same event detected by the solar wind monitors Advanced Composition Explorer and Wind which measured an intense increase in the solar wind flux due to a CME that had been released from the Sun 2 d previous to the XMM–Newton observation.