Observation of Neon at mid and high latitudes in the sunlit lunar exosphere: Results from CHACE aboard MIP/Chandrayaan-1

Abstract

The distribution of neutral Neon at the mid and high latitudes in the sunlit lunar exosphere observed by CHandra's Altitudinal Composition Explorer (CHACE) aboard the Moon Impact Probe (MIP) of the Chandrayaan-1 is reported. The CHACE observation was made when Moon was in the Earth's magnetotail. The upper limits of the surface number density are found to vary from (7-22) × 10³ cm-³ at the pole, to (3-5) × 10³ cm-³ in mid (50°S) latitudes and to (0.5-1.1) × 10³ cm-³ in lower (20°S) latitudes. The surface number densities estimated at lower latitudes from CHACE observations are consistent with the LADEE Neutral Mass Spectrometer (NMS) observations.