Abstract
At Mars, charge exchange between solar wind protons and neutral
exospheric hydrogen produces energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) that can
penetrate into the collisional atmosphere, where they can be converted
through collisions into H+ and H–.
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission observed a
population of negatively charged particles at low altitudes, whose
energies, angular distribution, and dependence on the upstream solar
wind were consistent with H–originating in the solar
wind. The highest fluxes of H– were observed near
perihelion and the southern summer solstice. We calculated an average
ratio of ~4% between H– density and
H+ density, implying a slightly smaller relative
abundance than reported previously (~10%). We found
that the fraction of H ENAs converted to H– increases
with the solar wind energy, in agreement with laboratory measurements of
the H–CO2 electron capture cross section.