Ion combination energies

Question

This is somewhat out of my comfort zone, and therefore I may not be using the correct terminology. Basically, there are some promoters of a certain woo, that claim solar wind H+ can combine with O-. Now, I have seen it said that this is impossible. That would be my view also. The H+ would be travelling at an average solar wind speed of ~ 400 km/s. I know that the energy (if that's the right term) of the H+ is ~ 1 keV. The O- is essentially stationary. Can anybody enlighten me on this, or provide a link to something that details the process. I have searched, to no avail. TIA.

Answer 1

The dissociation energy for the O–H bond is < 5 eV, which is generally less than the temperature (e.g., see https://physics.stackexchange.com/a/179057/59023) of both the electrons and ions in the solar wind. The typical solar wind speed is ~350 km/s (e.g., see https://astronomy.stackexchange.com/a/17899/13663), but ranges from ~250-800 km/s (ignoring transients like coronal mass ejections).

Now, I have seen it said that this is impossible.

I think a, perhaps, more important issue is the unlikelihood of observing $O^{-}$ in the ambient solar wind.

I doubt the recombination is impossible (i.e., I am sure there is a finite probability), but based upon energy alone it certainly appears to be very unlikely.