PT Unknown AU Drews, C TI Interstellar Pickup Ions at 1 AU with STEREO/PLASTIC PY 2013 PU Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel WP https://macau.uni-kiel.de/receive/diss_mods_00011974 LA en DE Pickup Ion AB In this thesis, interstellar pickup ions at 1 astronomical unit are analysed with the PLAsma and SupraThermal Ion Composition instrument (PLASTIC) on board the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO). Interstellar pickup ions originate from the neutral component of the Local InterStellar Medium (LISM), which enters the heliosphere with a velocity of 25 km/s as a result of its relative motion with respect to our Sun. This neutral wind is gradually ionized by charge exchange with the solar wind, by solar ultraviolet radiation, or more rarely, by electron impact and thus acts as the seed population for interstellar pickup ions. The freshly created ions are 'picked up' by the interplanetary magnetic eld that is frozen into the solar wind and rapidly acquire speeds equaling the solar wind speed in a solar wind frame of reference. More importantly, these pickup ions carry information on the LISM and provide an excellent opportunity to study the LISM in-situ. PI Kiel ER