Simulated data for the study "Effects of Comet Encke's meteoroid stream on the seasonal variation of Mercury's Ca exosphere"
Abstract
The .csv file contains simulated data related to the seasonal variation of calcium (Ca) in Mercury's exosphere, derived from Micro-Meteoroid Impact Vaporization (MMIV) processes. The model includes contributions from both the meteoroid background flux and cometary dust associated with comet 2P/Encke (Small Encke Meteoroid (SEM) and Large Encke Meteoroid (LEM) populations), evaluated over Mercury’s 2-year orbital period. 1 Column: TAA is the True Anomaly Angle of Mercury, where TAA=0° corresponds to the Mercury’s perihelion passage2 Column: Simulated seasonal Ca content in the exosphere over an odd Mercury year, due to meteoroid background flux including cometary contributions from SEM and LEM populations3 Column: Simulated seasonal Ca content in the exosphere over an even Mercury year, due meteoroid background flux including cometary contributions from SEM and LEM populations4 Column : mean exospheric Ca profile averaged over even and odd Mercury years5 Column: Simulated exospheric Ca profile assuming higher impact velocities from stream meteoroids6 Columns: Simulated seasonal Ca profile due to the meteoroid background flux including the cometary contribution from SEM and LEM populations: mass influx is 3 times higher than mean exospheric Ca profile (column 4) to approximately reproduce the observed Ca peaks7 Column: Simulated Ca profile assuming that the release of energetic Ca, generated through dissociative ionization processes followed by the neutralization of Ca⁺, is 50% of the total. The low-energy Ca component, generated by the photo-dissociation of the Ca-bearing molecules, constitutes the remaining 50%8 Column: Simulated seasonal Ca profile due to the meteoroid background flux including the cometary contribution from only the Small Encke Meteoroid (SEM); mass influx is 3 times higher than mean exospheric Ca profile (column 4) to approximately reproduce the observed Ca peaks
Publication details
- Journal / source
- Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
- Publication date
- 13 May 2026
- Document type
- Dataset