Comparison of ion structures in comets Halley and Giacobini-Zinner

Details Comparison of ion structures in comets Halley and Giacobini-Zinner Comparison of ion structures in comets Halley and Giacobini-Zinner

Mar 1987

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987p%26ss...35..299r&link_type=abstract

Planetary and Space Science (ISSN 0032-0633), vol. 35, March 1987, p. 299-305, 307-311. SERC-supported research.

Computer Science

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Giacobini-Zinner Comet, Halley'S Comet, Ions, Space Plasmas, Comet Tails, High Resolution, Ionospheric Sounding, Positive Ions, Water, Comets, Halley, Giacobini-Zinner, Comparisons, Structure, Atmosphere, Ions, Earth-Based Observations, Telescope Methods, Ionosphere, Plasma, Comet Tails, Emissions, Ice Mission, Imagery, Spacecraft Observations, Gases, Production Rate, Magnetohydrodynamics, Erosion, Solar Wind, Experiments, Comparisons, Calculations, Water, Dust

Scientific paper

Narrow band imaging of cometary ions with an Imaging Photon Detector System on 1 m and smaller telescopes has enabled the authors to examine the ionosphere and near-tail structures and to detect the wide outer fan of pick-up ions surrounding the plasma tail, which is below the threshold of conventional cometary photography. Images of the ion emissions from comet Giacobini-Zinner close to the ICE spacecraft encounter are presented, showing a diffuse fan some 2×105km long with scale width 25,000 km in the near tail. Higher resolution images in H2O+ emissions revealed a short tail core within the fan structure. Comet G-Z never developed a conventional, long, structured ion tail as observed in comet Halley in December 1985 and later. The criticality criterion is related to a difference of a factor of about 3 - 5 in gas production, and indicates an MHD stability condition. Alternative mechanisms for dissipating the plasma tail are discussed - via erosion (as in the AMPTE artificial comet) and via the penetration of energetic ions of solar wind or cometary origin.

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