The temperature of the thermal electrons in the coma of comet P/Halley

Details The temperature of the thermal electrons in the coma of comet P/Halley The temperature of the thermal electrons in the coma of comet P/Halley

Jan 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996adspr..18..215h&link_type=abstract

Advances in Space Research, Volume 18, Issue 11, p. 215-215.

Physics

Scientific paper

The temperature of the thermal electrons in the coma of comet P/Halley is of great importance for the ion densities. Recombination with electrons is the main loss mechanism for molecular ions and depends strongly on the electron temperature. A new kinematic coma-model shows that an observed, unexpected maximum of the measured ion density at 12'000 km from the comet is due to an increase of the electron temperature with increasing distance and therefore reduced ion-electron recombination. An electron temperature of ~25'000 K at 12'000 km from the nucleus is necessary and sufficient to explain the measured ion densities. Calculations show that the excess energy due to photoionisation is not sufficient to heat the electrons to the required temperature. Outside the contact surface an additional heat source for the electrons must be present in the coma of P/Halley. This additional heat source is most probably associated with a population of suprathermal electrons fed by the solar wind.

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