Remote sensing of Mercury's magnetospheric plasma environment via Energetic Neutral Atoms (ENA) imaging

The potentiality of exploring the plasma dynamical behavior of Mercury via Energetic Neutral Atom (ENA) analysis is briefly discussed. Through ENA detection, the Hermean magnetospheric configuration and morphology as well as the existence of radiation belts would be clarified. In order to demonstrate the feasibility of ENA imaging in the Hermean environment, an empirical model of the equatorial proton distributions, originally developed for the Earth†s magnetosphere, is here modified in order to be applicable to the expected conditions, according to the present knowledge of the planet. Simulations of the ENA radiation are then presented and discussed. It is shown that the simulated radiation is significantly high, especially when pointing the field of view towards the Hermean surface. The way of determining the proton flux distributions and the cross-tail electric field characteristics by using the ENA signal is discussed. Finally, e preliminary design of an ENA detector suitable for the ESA mission to Mercury ‘BepiColombo†is proposed and discussed.