Cometary ion pressure anisotropies at comets Halley and Grigg-Skjellerup

Details Cometary ion pressure anisotropies at comets Halley and Grigg-Skjellerup Cometary ion pressure anisotropies at comets Halley and Grigg-Skjellerup

Dec 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996jgr...10127573c&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research, Volume 101, Issue A12, p. 27573-27584

Physics

Plasma Physics

5

Planetology: Comets And Small Bodies: Plasma And Mhd Instabilities, Space Plasma Physics: Kinetic And Mhd Theory, Magnetospheric Physics: Solar Wind Interactions With Unmagnetized Bodies, Planetology: Comets And Small Bodies: Interactions With Solar Wind Plasma And Fields

Scientific paper

Cometary water group ions are the dominant population controlling the interaction of comets with the solar wind. The distribution function of this population has important effects on the overall structure and boundaries in the comet-solar wind interaction and on the plasma wave activity produced. In this paper we present new results on the behavior of the water group ions measured by Giotto at comets Halley and Grigg-Skjellerup. The pressures perpendicular and parallel to the magnetic field are presented and the implications explored. We show that during the Halley inbound pass, the firehose instability may excite the observed waves with low wavenumber. Also, we find that the energy density of energetic cometary ions is greater than the observed difference between the energy released from the ring-like distribution and the energy in the pickup-excited waves. This indicates that another energy source must be contributing to the acceleration, probably related to the deceleration of the solar wind in the comet frame.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

Cometary ion pressure anisotropies at comets Halley and Grigg-Skjellerup does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with Cometary ion pressure anisotropies at comets Halley and Grigg-Skjellerup, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cometary ion pressure anisotropies at comets Halley and Grigg-Skjellerup will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1503038