Physics
Scientific paper
Jul 1995
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1995hst..prop.6259b&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #6259
Physics
Hst Proposal Id #6259 Solar System
Scientific paper
We propose to carry out high-resolution imaging of the near-nuclearregions of comet Hyakutake to determine the structure and evolution of theplasma. These images will determine the nature of the comet's interactionwith the solar wind, show the morphology of the comet's magnetic field,provide insight to mechanisms for disconnection events (DE's), and assist indetermining the important mechanism for ionizing molecules in comets. Theinteraction of the solar wind with comets -- capture of solar magnetic fieldlines, formation of the plasma tail, formation of rays, activity includingdisconnection events, ionization of molecules -- is widely believed tofollow a standard paradigm. None of the features of the paradigm have beenverified for nuclear distances less than about 1000 km or with spatialresolutions comparable to the expected dimension of fine structure. Thisdimension is the Larmor radius of water ions; for this case, about 15 km.For a comet with a geocentric distance of 1 AU, each WFC-2 chip willcover about 55,000 km on a side, with a resolution of 72 km. Such animage would provide, by far, the most stringent test of our physical viewof the comet/solar wind interaction. These observations require a cometof total visual magnitude 10 or less, the preferred target being a newcomet of magnitude 7 or less.
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