| 1. |
- Goetz, Charlotte, et al.
(author)
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The plasma environment of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
- 2022
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In: Space Science Reviews. - : Springer. - 0038-6308 .- 1572-9672. ; 218:8
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The environment of a comet is a fascinating and unique laboratory to study plasma processes and the formation of structures such as shocks and discontinuities from electron scales to ion scales and above. The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission collected data for more than two years, from the rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in August 2014 until the final touch-down of the spacecraft end of September 2016. This escort phase spanned a large arc of the comet's orbit around the Sun, including its perihelion and corresponding to heliocentric distances between 3.8 AU and 1.24 AU. The length of the active mission together with this span in heliocentric and cometocentric distances make the Rosetta data set unique and much richer than sets obtained with previous cometary probes. Here, we review the results from the Rosetta mission that pertain to the plasma environment. We detail all known sources and losses of the plasma and typical processes within it. The findings from in-situ plasma measurements are complemented by remote observations of emissions from the plasma. Overviews of the methods and instruments used in the study are given as well as a short review of the Rosetta mission. The long duration of the Rosetta mission provides the opportunity to better understand how the importance of these processes changes depending on parameters like the outgassing rate and the solar wind conditions. We discuss how the shape and existence of large scale structures depend on these parameters and how the plasma within different regions of the plasma environment can be characterised. We end with a non-exhaustive list of still open questions, as well as suggestions on how to answer them in the future.
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| 2. |
- Gunell, Herbert, et al.
(author)
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Ion acoustic waves near a comet nucleus : Rosetta observations at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
- 2021
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In: Annales Geophysicae. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 0992-7689 .- 1432-0576. ; 39:1, s. 53-68
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Ion acoustic waves were observed between 15 and 30 km from the centre of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by the Rosetta spacecraft during its close flyby on 28 March 2015. There are two electron populations: one cold at k(B)T(e) approximate to 0.2 eV and one warm at k(B)T(e) approximate to 2 eV. The ions are dominated by a cold (a few hundredths of electronvolt) distribution of water group ions with a bulk speed of (3-3.7) km s(-1). A warm k(B)T(e) approximate to 6 eV ion population, which also is present, has no influence on the ion acoustic waves due to its low density of only 0.25 % of the plasma density. Near closest approach the propagation direction was within 50 degrees from the direction of the bulk velocity. The waves, which in the plasma frame appear below the ion plasma frequency f(pi) approximate to 2 kHz, are Doppler-shifted to the spacecraft frame where they cover a frequency range up to approximately 4 kHz. The waves are detected in a region of space where the magnetic field is piled up and draped around the inner part of the ionised coma. Estimates of the current associated with the magnetic field gradient as observed by Rosetta are used as input to calculations of dispersion relations for current-driven ion acoustic waves, using kinetic theory. Agreement between theory and observations is obtained for electron and ion distributions with the properties described above. The wave power decreases over cometocentric distances from 24 to 30 km. The main difference between the plasma at closest approach and in the region where the waves are decaying is the absence of a significant current in the latter. Wave observations and theory combined supplement the particle measurements that are difficult at low energies and complicated by spacecraft charging.
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| 3. |
- Johansson, Fredrik Leffe, 1988-, et al.
(author)
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Plasma densitites, flow and Solar EUV flux at comet 67P : A cross-calibration approach
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In: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Context.During its two year mission at comet 67P, Rosetta nearly continuously monitored the inner coma plasma environment forgas production rates varying over three orders of magnitude, at distances to the nucleus from a few to a few hundred km. To achievethe best possible measurements, cross-calibration of the plasma instruments is needed.Aims.To provide a consistent plasma density data set for the full mission, in the process providing a statistical characterisation of theplasma processes in the inner coma and their evolution.Methods.We construct physical models for two different methods to cross-calibrate the spacecraft potential and the ion current asmeasured by the Rosetta Langmuir Probes (LAP) to the electron density as measured by the Mutual Impedance Probe (MIP). We alsodescribe the methods used to estimate spacecraft potential, and validate the results with the Ion Composition Analyser, (ICA).Results.We retrieve a continuous plasma density dataset for the entire cometary mission with a much improved dynamical rangecompared to any plasma instrument alone and, at times, improve the temporal resolution from 0.24-0.74 Hz to 57.8 Hz. The physicalmodel also yields, at 3 hour time resolution, ion flow speeds as well as a proxy for the solar EUV flux from the photoemission fromthe Langmuir Probes.Conclusions.We report on two independent estimates of the ion flow speed which are consistent with the bulk H2O+ion velocitiesas measured by ICA. We find the ion flow to be much faster than the neutral gas, lending further evidence that the ions are mostlycollisionally decoupled from the neutrals in the coma. Also, the measured EUV flux is perfectly consistent with independent measurements previously published in Johansson et al. (2017) and lends support for the conclusions drawn therein regarding an attenuationof solar EUV from a distant nanograin dust population between the comet and the Sun, when the comet activity was high. The newdensity dataset is consistent with the existing MIP density dataset, but facilitates plasma analysis at much shorter timescales, with anincreased temporal resolution of a factor of (up to) 240 and covers also long time periods where densities were too low to be measuredby MIP.
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| 4. |
- Nilsson, Hans, et al.
(author)
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Evolution of the ion environment of comet 67P during the Rosetta mission as seen by RPC-ICA
- 2017
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In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. - : Oxford University Press. - 0035-8711 .- 1365-2966. ; 469:Suppl_2, s. S252-S261
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Rosetta has followed comet 67P from low activity at more than 3.6 au heliocentric distance to high activity at perihelion (1.24 au) and then out again. We provide a general overview of the evolution of the dynamic ion environment using data from the RPC-ICA ion spectrometer. We discuss where Rosetta was located within the evolving comet magnetosphere. For the initial observations, the solar wind permeated all of the coma. In 2015 mid-April, the solar wind started to disappear from the observation region, to re-appear again in 2015 December. Low-energy cometary ions were seen at first when Rosetta was about 100 km from the nucleus at 3.6 au, and soon after consistently throughout the mission except during the excursions to farther distances from the comet. The observed flux of low-energy ions was relatively constant due to Rosetta's orbit changing with comet activity. Accelerated cometary ions, moving mainly in the antisunward direction gradually became more common as comet activity increased. These accelerated cometary ions kept being observed also after the solar wind disappeared from the location of Rosetta, with somewhat higher fluxes further away from the nucleus. Around perihelion, when Rosetta was relatively deep within the comet magnetosphere, the fluxes of accelerated cometary ions decreased, as did their maximum energy. The disappearance of more energetic cometary ions at close distance during high activity is suggested to be due to a flow pattern where these ions flow around the obstacle of the denser coma or due to charge exchange losses.
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| 5. |
- Odelstad, Elias, et al.
(author)
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Plasma density and magnetic field fluctuations in the ion gyro-frequency range near the diamagnetic cavity of comet 67P
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We report the detection of large-amplitude, quasi-harmonic density-fluctuations with associated magnetic field oscillations in the region surrounding the diamagnetic cavity of comet 67P. Typical frequencies are ~0.1 Hz, corresponding to ~10 times the water and <0.5 times the proton gyro-frequencies, respectively. Magnetic field oscillations are not always clearly observed in association to these density fluctuations, but when they are, they consistently have wave vectors perpendicular to the background magnetic field, with the principal axis of polarization close to field-aligned and with a ~90° phase lag w.r.t. the density fluctuations. The fluctuations are observed in association with asymmetric plasma and magnetic field enhancements previously found in the region surrounding the diamagnetic cavity, occurring predominantly on their descending slopes. We speculate that they are Ion Bernstein waves (IBWs) excited by the drift-cyclotron instability resulting from strong plasma inhomogeneities in the region surrounding the diamagnetic cavity.
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| 6. |
- Odelstad, Elias, et al.
(author)
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Plasma density and magnetic field fluctuations in the ion gyro-frequency range near the diamagnetic cavity of comet 67P
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Other publication (other academic/artistic)abstract
- We report the detection of large-amplitude, quasi-harmonic density-fluctuations with associated magnetic field oscillations in the region surrounding the diamagnetic cavity of comet 67P. Typical frequencies are ~0.1 Hz, corresponding to ~10 times the water and <0.5 times the proton gyro-frequencies, respectively. Magnetic field oscillations are not always clearly observed in association to these density fluctuations, but when they are, they consistently have wave vectors perpendicular to the background magnetic field, with the principal axis of polarization close to field-aligned and with a ~90° phase lag w.r.t. the density fluctuations. The fluctuations are observed in association with asymmetric plasma and magnetic field enhancements previously found in the region surrounding the diamagnetic cavity, occurring predominantly on their descending slopes. We speculate that they are Ion Bernstein waves (IBWs) excited by the drift-cyclotron instability resulting from strong plasma inhomogeneities in the region surrounding the diamagnetic cavity.
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