Observations of solar wind ion charge exchange in the comet Halley coma

Details Observations of solar wind ion charge exchange in the comet Halley coma Observations of solar wind ion charge exchange in the comet Halley coma

Mar 1991

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

In LMSC, A Study of Ion Composition and Dynamics at Comet Halley 25 p (SEE N93-13465 03-90)

Computer Science

Charge Exchange, Comet Tails, Electron Plasma, Halley'S Comet, Ion Charge, Oxygen Ions, Solar Wind, Electron Spectroscopy, Giotto Mission, Mass Spectrometers, Plasma Loss, Protons

Scientific paper

Giotto Ion Mass Spectrometer/High Energy Range Spectrometer (IMS/HERS) observations of solar wind ions show charge exchange effects and solar wind compositional changes in the coma of comet Halley. As the comet was approached, the He(++) to proton density ratio increased until about 1 hour before closest approach after which time it decreased. Abrupt increases in this ratio were also observed in the beginning and near the end of the so-called Mystery Region (8.6 - 5.5(10)5 km from the comet along the spacecraft trajectory). These abrupt increases in the density ratio were well correlated with enhanced fluxes of keV electrons as measured by the Giotto plasma electron spectrometer. The general increase and then decrease of the He(++) to proton density ratio is quantitatively consistent with a combination of the addition of protons of cometary origin to the plasma and loss of plasma through charge exchange of protons and He(++). In general agreement with the solar wind proton and He(++) observations, solar wind oxygen and carbon ions were observed to charge exchange from higher to lower charge states with decreasing distance to the comet. The more abrupt increases in the He(++) to proton and the He(++) to O(6+) density ratios in the mystery region require a change in the solar wind ion composition in this region while the correlation with energetic electrons indicates processes associated with the comet.

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