NEUTRAL-ATOM ASTRONOMY

Astronomy has been associated with the detection of electromagnetic waves or photons from within and beyond the solar system, ranging from Radio to Gamma-ray Astronomy. Particle Astrophysics, including Neutrino and Dark-Matter Astrophysics today, started with the discovery of cosmic rays in 1911. The Space Age expanded particle observations to in-situ studies of lower energy electrons and ions with a variety of charge states in space plasmas traversed by spacecraft. Remote observation of space plasmas became possible only after the discovery of energetic neutral atoms (ENAs) in space in 1950.

This book is a primer for those who wish to learn more about the origins of ENAs, related detection techniques, and how ENA images and spectra can be used to study space plasmas beyond the reach of spacecraft. It tells a comprehensive story from the first encounters with ENAs in the Earth's magnetosphere to Neutral-Atom Astronomy of the edge of the heliosphere and the interstellar medium. This story includes how ion mass spectrographs evolved into ENA imagers, overcoming the technical challenges, how to extract information from ENA data, and a variety of diagnostic applications on the magnetosphere, interplanetary space, other solar-system objects, the heliospheric boundary, the local interstellar medium, and a glimpse into the future of Neutral-Atom Astronomy.

The authors hope to inform and inspire readers to further enrich this field of study.

Contents:

• Introduction
• First Encounters with ENAs
• Remote Sensing of Space Plasma Through ENA Observations
• ENA Instrumentation: General
• ENA Sensor Implementations
• ENAs from Magnetospheres and Small Bodies in the Solar System
• ENA Diagnostics of the Heliosphere-Interstellar Medium Interaction
• What Have ENAs Revealed and What is Next?
• Appendices:
  • Geometrical Factor and Angular Response
  • ENA-Beam Calibration Facilities

Readership: Advanced undergraduate and graduate students, researchers and practitioners in the fields of heliospheric and planetary studies, researchers with topics related to space.

Key Features:

• There is no competing title
• Covers the field from inception to the state of the art
• Although retired since 2011, co-author KCH pioneered the field since 1970s, for which he was elected Fellow of the American Physical Society in 2000. Co-author EM, elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union in 2010, has been a leader in the field, including IBEX, IMAP and the planning of the mission beyond IMAP