Area Research Co

THE EFFORT PROPOSED IS A PILOT STUDY TO EXAMINE THE ELECTRON KINETIC EFFECTS INVOLVED IN THE SOLAR WIND INTERACTION WITH PLUTO AND ITS MOONS. THE NEW HORIZONS DATA SUGGESTS THAT THE SOLAR WIND INTERACTION WITH PLUTO IS UNIQUE. EXAMINATION OF TYPICAL SOLAR WIND PARAMETERS AT 33 AU SUGGESTS THAT THE SOLAR WIND INTERACTION WITH PLUTO IS UNLIKE ANY OTHER INTERACTION ENCOUNTERED WITHIN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM. THE PROPOSED EFFORT WILL MAKE USE OF AN IMPLICIT PARTICLE CODE TO EXAMINE THE BEHAVIOR OF BOTH THE IONS AND ELECTRONS. THE UNIQUE COMBINATION OF PLUTOS SMALL SIZE AND THE LARGE SCALE SIZE OF THE ELECTRON PHYSICS OFFERS A SITUATION BEYOND ANY INTUITION DEVELOPED FROM A FLUID/MHD PICTURE OR EVEN AN ION KINETIC PICTURE AND OTHER PLANETARY EXPLORATION. THE GOAL WILL BE TO DETERMINE HOW THE PRESENCE OF LARGE ELECTRON SCALE SIZES MODIFIES THE INTERACTION BETWEEN THE SOLAR WIND AND THE DWARF PLANET PLUTO. THIS IS A ONE YEAR PROPOSAL SIMPLY BECAUSE IT IS UNCLEAR WHAT WILL BE FOUND AND WHILE THERE IS SPECULATION AS TO WHAT THE LARGE SCALE ELECTRON PHYSICS MIGHT PRODUCE IT SEEMS UNWISE TO MAKE EXTENSIVE RESEARCH PLANS UNTIL THIS UNIQUE SITUATION HAS BE EXPLORED IN A PRELIMINARY MANNER.