Densities and abundances of hot cometary ions in the coma of P/Halley

Details Densities and abundances of hot cometary ions in the coma of P/Halley Densities and abundances of hot cometary ions in the coma of P/Halley

Mar 1991

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991sicd.rept.....n&link_type=abstract

In LMSC, A Study of Ion Composition and Dynamics at Comet Halley 34 p (SEE N93-13465 03-90)

Other

Abundance, Cometary Atmospheres, Giotto Mission, Halley'S Comet, Ionization, Ions, Mass Spectrometers, Plasma Compression, Solar Wind, Carbonaceous Materials, Plasma Control, Protons, Sunlight, Trajectories

Scientific paper

On its flight by P/Halley, the Giotto spacecraft carried a High Energy Range Spectrometer (HERS) for measuring the properties of cometary ions picked up by the solar wind in the nearly collisionless regions of the coma. Preliminary estimates of the ion densities observed by HERS were reevaluated and extended; density profiles along the Giotto trajectory are presented for 13 values of ion mass/charge. Comparison with the physical-chemical model of the interaction of sunlight and the solar wind with the comet by other researchers reveals that, with the exception of protons and H2(+), all ion densities were at least an order of magnitude higher than predicted. The high ion densities cannot be explained on the basis of compression of the plasma, but require additional or stronger ionization mechanisms. Ratios of the densities of different ion species reveal an overabundance of carbonaceous material and an underabundance of H2(+) compared to the predictions of the Schmidt. While the densities of solar wind ions (H(+) and He(++)) changed sharply across a magnetic discontinuity located 1.35(10)5 km from the comet, this feature, which has been called both the 'cometopause' and the 'magnetic pileup boundary' was barely distinguishable in the density profiles of hot cometary ions. This result is consistent with the interpretation that the magnetic pileup boundary detected by Giotto was caused by a discontinuity in the solar wind and is not an intrinsic feature of the interaction of the solar wind with an active comet.

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