Characterizing Pluto's plasma environment through multifluid MHD modelling

We will report on preliminary results from simulations of the Hadean magnetosphere using a refined version of the global multifluid MHD model which has been successfully used to simulate numerous planetary systems, including Ganymede [Paty et al., 2008], Pluto [Harnett et al., 2005], Saturn [Kidder at al., 2012], and Titan [Snowden et al., 2011a,b], among others. This initial study focuses on exploring the exospheric and solar wind parameter space local to Pluto. We explore multiple system geometries including a simulation in which Pluto has no ionosphere, as appears to be the case due to freezing when Pluto resides at apoapsis, as well as several scenarios with different ionospheric and exospheric densities. Ionospheric densities are based on chemical modeling reported in Krasnopolsky and Cruikshank [1999] and solar wind conditions are based on system geometry at periapsis, apoapsis, and at the time of the New Horizons system flyby. We examine the role of the ionosphere and exosphere in determining the location and structure of the bow shock, as well as characterizing the impact of the variability of solar wind pressure and magnetic field throughout Pluto's orbit. This work supports the characterization of the magnetospheric environment of the Pluto system in preparation for the New Horizons encounter in 2015.