Comets C/2001 Q4 and C/2004 Q2: Structure of plasma tails

Abstract

The plasma tails of comets C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) and C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) are investigated. For each comet we calculate the aberration angle, i.e., the angle between the cometary tail axis and the prolonged radius vector of the comet. The aberration angles are used to estimate the radial velocity of the solar wind in May 2004 and January–February 2005. The calculated velocities are compared to the solar wind velocities measured by space apparatuses in the circumterrestrial space. Possible causes of disagreement between these data are discussed