Blackbody Radiation

Atmospheric escape

non-thermal escape: A physical process that results in the full or partial loss of a planet’s atmosphere.

large-scale magnetic fields

• conductive material
• convective motion
• has kinetic energy

Mars doesn’t have convective interior, since the core has been cooled off.

radioactive decay within the core

Stellar winds

continuous flow of ionized particles emitted by the Sun and other stars.

Charge exchange

Thermal escape

Jeans escape

Given the Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution, the probability of a particle having a certain velocity is given by:

$$\left( \frac{dN}{dv} \right)_{m,T} = v^2 \left( \frac{m}{2 \pi k_B T} \right)^{\frac{3}{2}} \exp \left( -\frac{mv^2}{2k_BT} \right)$$