Abstract
ABSTRACT Comets are constantly interacting with the solar wind. When the comet activity is high enough, this leads to the creation of a magnetic field free region around the nucleus known as the diamagnetic cavity. It has been suggested that the ion-neutral drag force is balancing the magnetic pressure at the cavity boundary, but after the visit of Rosetta to comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko the coupling between ions and neutrals inside the cavity has been debated, at least for moderately active comets. In this study, we use data from the ion composition analyser to determine the bulk speeds and temperatures of the low-energy ions in the diamagnetic cavity of comet 67P. The low-energy ions are affected by the negative spacecraft potential, and we use the Spacecraft Plasma Interaction Software to model the resulting influence on the detected energy spectra. We find bulk speeds of 5–10 km s−1 with a most probable speed of 7 km s−1, significantly above the velocity of the neutral particles. This indicates that the collisional coupling between ions and neutrals is not strong enough to keep the ions at the same speed as the neutrals inside the cavity. The temperatures are in the range 0.7–1.6 eV, with a peak probability at 1.0 eV. We attribute the major part of the temperature to the fact that ions are born at different locations in the coma, and hence are accelerated over different distances before reaching the spacecraft.
Highlights
IntroductionIcy bodies, orbiting the Sun along elliptical orbits
Comets are small, icy bodies, orbiting the Sun along elliptical orbits
This indicates that the collisional coupling between ions and neutrals is not strong enough to keep the ions at the same speed as the neutrals inside the cavity
Summary
Icy bodies, orbiting the Sun along elliptical orbits As they approach the Sun, the ice in the nucleus starts sublimating, creating a gas and dust envelope called a coma. The ions are initially cold and flowing with the neutral gas, but are affected by electromagnetic forces. They are accelerated by the convective electric field of the solar wind, in a process often referred to as mass loading The cometary ions are incorporated into the solar wind flow, causing the solar wind to slow down and get deflected For active comets, this leads to the creation of a bow shock This leads to the creation of a bow shock
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