Reflektion av solvindsprotoner från månen : Dataanalys av SARA-instrumentet

The Moon has neither a strong magnetic field nor a dense atmosphere to stand-off the solar wind. However, some areas of the lunar crust are permanently magnetized and several studies indicate that these magnetic anomalies can form mini-magnetospheres, partially deflecting the solar wind.Here, ion data from the SARA instrument onboard Chandrayaan-1 is analyzed, to improve the understanding of the interaction dynamics between the solar wind protons and the Moon.A clear and strong interaction is observed between the solar wind protons and the lunar magnetic anomalies. ~50 % of the incoming solar wind protons are reflected above the strongest magnetic anomalies. An average of ~1 % of the solar wind protons are reflected over the entire lunar far-side.This implies that the regolith in magnetic anomaly areas is partially protected from proton precipitation, and that the near-Moon plasma environment is highly influenced by the magnetic anomalies.Even small (<100 km), weak (