The dust coma of comet P/Halley - Measurements on the Vega-1 and Vega-2 spacecraft

Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics

Scientific paper

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Coma, Flyby Missions, Halley'S Comet, Interplanetary Dust, Vega Project, Mass Distribution, Spatial Distribution, Temporal Distribution

Scientific paper

The spatial, temporal and mass distributions of coma dust particles for masses >10-13g have been confirmed. The authors have analyzed the inverse square dependence (∝R-2) of flux with distance R from the nucleus and show that there are well-defined envelope boundaries for the measured range of masses. Regions of enhanced fluxes above the R-2 'baselines' inside these boundaries are identified as dust jets. Of special interest is the giant flux enhancement near closest approach for Vega-1. The authors have discovered particles with a wide range of masses arriving in clusters or 'packets' (i.e., a non-Poisson distribution of dust particles) throughout the regions beyond the envelope boundaries - namely, the fringe regions of the dust coma. These observations suggest the emission from the nucleus of large conglomerates of small particles which gently disintegrate as they travel outward to account for the 10-13g particles observed beyond the envelope boundaries. Also, dust fluences over the missions have been determined.

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