Spectra of the X‐Ray Emission Induced in the Interaction between the Solar Wind and the Heliospheric Gas

Abstract

Spectra of the heliospheric EUV and X-ray emission induced in the charge transfer collisions of the highly charged solar wind ions with the interstellar gas have been calculated. Cascading photon spectra of individual Oq+, Cq+, Nq+, and Neq+ ions have been constructed using recent data on ion radiative transition probabilities and the state-selective population cross sections for charge transfer collisions of the most abundant heavy solar wind ions with H and He atoms. Emission spectra have been calculated for slow and fast solar winds interacting with the heliospheric H and He gas. Relative intensities of the brightest lines have been predicted. The volume power distribution of the charge transfer EUV and X-ray emission has been computed for simplified models of the solar winds and the interstellar gas. X-ray images of the heliosphere have been composed for the region inside 10 AU from the Sun.