| 1. |
- Perjés, Zoltán, et al.
(författare)
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C-infinity perturbations of FRW models with a cosmological constant
- 2005
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 431:2, s. 415-421
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Spatially homogeneous and isotropic cosmological models, with a perfect fluid matter source and non-vanishing cosmological constant, are studied. The equations governing linear perturbations of the space-time and the variation of energy density are given. The complete solution of the problem is obtained for C∞ perturbations, using a comoving time. The Sachs-Wolfe fluctuations of the temperature of the cosmic background radiation are obtained for the relatively growing density perturbations. It is found that the observable celestial microwave fluctuation pattern underwent a reversal approximately two billion years ago. What is observed today is a negative image of the last scattering surface with an attenuation of the fluctuations, due to the presence of the cosmological constant.
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| 2. |
- Wedlund, Cyril Simon, et al.
(författare)
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Solar wind charge exchange in cometary atmospheres : III. Results from the Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
- 2019
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 630
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. Solar wind charge-changing reactions are of paramount importance to the physico-chemistry of the atmosphere of a comet. The ESA/Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) provides a unique opportunity to study charge-changing processes in situ.Aims. To understand the role of these reactions in the evolution of the solar wind plasma and interpret the complex in situ measurements made by Rosetta, numerical or analytical models are necessary.Methods. We used an extended analytical formalism describing solar wind charge-changing processes at comets along solar wind streamlines. The model is driven by solar wind ion measurements from the Rosetta Plasma Consortium-Ion Composition Analyser (RPC-ICA) and neutral density observations from the Rosetta Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis-Comet Pressure Sensor (ROSINA-COPS), as well as by charge-changing cross sections of hydrogen and helium particles in a water gas.Results. A mission-wide overview of charge-changing efficiencies at comet 67P is presented. Electron capture cross sections dominate and favor the production of He and H energetic neutral atoms (ENAs), with fluxes expected to rival those of H+ and He2+ ions.Conclusions. Neutral outgassing rates are retrieved from local RPC-ICA flux measurements and match ROSINA estimates very well throughout the mission. From the model, we find that solar wind charge exchange is unable to fully explain the magnitude of the sharp drop in solar wind ion fluxes observed by Rosetta for heliocentric distances below 2.5 AU. This is likely because the model does not take the relative ion dynamics into account and to a lesser extent because it ignores the formation of bow-shock-like structures upstream of the nucleus. This work also shows that the ionization by solar extreme-ultraviolet radiation and energetic electrons dominates the source of cometary ions, although solar wind contributions may be significant during isolated events.
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| 3. |
- Behar, Etienne, et al.
(författare)
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Mass-loading of the solar wind at 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko : Observations and modelling
- 2016
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 596
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. The first long-term in-situ observation of the plasma environment in the vicinity of a comet, as provided by the European Rosetta spacecraft.Aims. Here we offer characterisation of the solar wind flow near 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) and its long term evolution during low nucleus activity. We also aim to quantify and interpret the deflection and deceleration of the flow expected from ionization of neutral cometary particles within the undisturbed solar wind.Methods. We have analysed in situ ion and magnetic field data and combined this with hybrid modeling of the interaction between the solar wind and the comet atmosphere.Results. The solar wind deflection is increasing with decreasing heliocentric distances, and exhibits very little deceleration. This is seen both in observations and in modeled solar wind protons. According to our model, energy and momentum are transferred from the solar wind to the coma in a single region, centered on the nucleus, with a size in the order of 1000 km. This interaction affects, over larger scales, the downstream modeled solar wind flow. The energy gained by the cometary ions is a small fraction of the energy available in the solar wind.Conclusions. The deflection of the solar wind is the strongest and clearest signature of the mass-loading for a small, low-activity comet, whereas there is little deceleration of the solar wind.
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| 4. |
- Behar, Etienne, et al.
(författare)
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Solar wind dynamics around a comet : A 2D semi-analytical kinetic model
- 2018
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 620
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims.We aim at analytically modelling the solar wind proton trajectories during their interaction with a partially ionised cometaryatmosphere, not in terms of bulk properties of the flow but in terms of single particle dynamics.Methods.We first derive a generalised gyromotion, in which the electric field is reduced to its motional component. Steady-stateis assumed, and simplified models of the cometary density and of the electron fluid are used to express the force experienced byindividual solar wind protons during the interaction.Results.A three-dimensional (3D) analytical expression of the gyration of two interacting plasma beams is obtained. Applying it to acomet case, the force on protons is always perpendicular to their velocity and has an amplitude proportional to 1/r2. The solar winddeflection is obtained at any point in space. The resulting picture presents a caustic of intersecting trajectories, and a circular regionis found that is completely free of particles. The particles do not lose any kinetic energy and this absence of deceleration, togetherwith the solar wind deflection pattern and the presence of a solar wind ion cavity, is in good agreement with the general results of theRosettamission.Conclusions.The qualitative match between the model and thein situdata highlights how dominant the motional electric field isthroughout most of the interaction region for the solar wind proton dynamics. The model provides a simple general kinetic descriptionof how momentum is transferred between these two collisionless plasmas. It also shows the potential of this semi-analytical modelfor a systematic quantitative comparison to the data.
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| 5. |
- Benseguane, Selma, et al.
(författare)
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Evolution of pits at the surface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
- 2022
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 668
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. The observation of pits at the surface of comets offers the opportunity to take a glimpse into the properties and the mechanisms that shape a nucleus through cometary activity. If the origin of these pits is still a matter of debate, multiple studies have recently suggested that known phase transitions (such as volatile sublimation or amorphous water ice crystallization) alone could not have carved these morphological features on the surface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (hereafter 67P).Aims. We want to understand how the progressive modification of 67P' s surface due to cometary activity might have affected the characteristics of pits and alcoves. In particular, we aim to understand whether signatures of the formation mechanism of these surface morphological features can still be identified.Methods. To quantify the amount of erosion sustained at the surface of 67P since it arrived on its currently observed orbit, we selected 380 facets of a medium-resolution shape model of the nucleus, sampling 30 pits and alcoves across the surface. We computed the surface energy balance with a high temporal resolution, including shadowing and self-heating contributions. We then applied a thermal evolution model to assess the amount of erosion sustained after ten orbital revolutions under current illumination conditions.Results. We find that the maximum erosion sustained after ten orbital revolutions is on the order of 80 m, for facets located in the southern hemisphere. We thus confirm that progressive erosion cannot form pits and alcoves, as local erosion is much lower than their observed depth and diameter. We find that plateaus tend to erode more than bottoms, especially for the deepest depressions, and that some differential erosion can affect their morphology. As a general rule, our results suggest that sharp morphological features tend to be erased by progressive erosion.Conclusions. This study supports the assumption that deep circular pits, such as Seth_01, are the least processed morphological features at the surface of 67P, or the best preserved since their formation.
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| 6. |
- Beth, Arnaud, et al.
(författare)
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First investigation of the diamagnetic cavity boundary layer with a 1D3V PIC simulation
- 2022
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 667
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context: Amongst the different features and boundaries encountered around comets, one remains of particular interest to the plasma community: the diamagnetic cavity. Crossed for the first time at 1P/Halley during the Giotto flyby in 1986 and later met more than 700 times by the ESA Rosetta spacecraft around Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, this region, almost free of any magnetic field, surrounds nuclei of active comets. However, previous observations and modelling of this part of the coma have not yet provided a definitive answer as to the origin of such a cavity and on its border, the diamagnetic cavity boundary layer.Aims: We investigate which forces and equilibrium might be at play and balance the magnetic pressure at this boundary down to the spatial and temporal scales of the electrons in the 1D collisionless case. In addition, we scrutinise assumptions made in magneto-hydrodynamic and hybrid simulations of this environment and check for their validity.Methods: We simulated this region at the electron scale by means of 1D3V particle-in-cell simulations and SMILEI code.Results: Across this layer, depending on the magnetic field strength, the electric field is governed by different equilibria, with a thin double-layer forming ahead. In addition, we show that the electron distribution function departs from Maxwellian and/or gyrotropic distributions and that electrons do not behave adiabatically. We demonstrate the need to investigate this region at the electron scale in depth with fully kinetic simulations.
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| 7. |
- Beth, Arnaud, et al.
(författare)
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ROSINA ion zoo at Comet 67P
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 642
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context: The Rosetta spacecraft escorted Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for 2 yr along its journey through the Solar System between 3.8 and 1.24 au. Thanks to the high resolution mass spectrometer on board Rosetta, the detailed ion composition within a coma has been accurately assessed in situ for the very first time.Aims: Previous cometary missions, such as Giotto, did not have the instrumental capabilities to identify the exact nature of the plasma in a coma because the mass resolution of the spectrometers onboard was too low to separate ion species with similar masses. In contrast, the Double Focusing Mass Spectrometer (DFMS), part of the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis on board Rosetta (ROSINA), with its high mass resolution mode, outperformed all of them, revealing the diversity of cometary ions.Methods: We calibrated and analysed the set of spectra acquired by DFMS in ion mode from October 2014 to April 2016. In particular, we focused on the range from 13–39 u q−1. The high mass resolution of DFMS allows for accurate identifications of ions with quasi-similar masses, separating 13C+ from CH+, for instance.Results: We confirm the presence in situ of predicted cations at comets, such as CHm+ (m = 1−4), HnO+ (n = 1−3), O+, Na+, and several ionised and protonated molecules. Prior to Rosetta, only a fraction of them had been confirmed from Earth-based observations. In addition, we report for the first time the unambiguous presence of a molecular dication in the gas envelope of a Solar System body, namely CO2++.
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| 8. |
- Canu Blot, Romain, et al.
(författare)
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Upper limit of the solar wind protons backscattering efficiency from Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
- 2024
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 683
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. Solar wind ions backscattering is a fundamental plasma-surface interaction process that may occur on all celestial bodies exposed to the solar wind and lacking a significant atmosphere or magnetosphere. Yet, observations have been limited to the regolith-covered Moon and Phobos, one of the Martian moons.Aims. We aim to expand our knowledge of the process to include comets by investigating the backscattering of solar wind protons from the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.Methods. We used one of the ion spectrometers on board ESA s Rosetta spacecraft to search for evidence of backscattered solar wind protons from the cometary surface. The signal of interest was expected to be very weak and several statistical treatments of the data were essential to eliminate any influence from background noise and instrumental effects. Due to limited knowledge of the signal location within the observed parameter space, we conducted a statistical analysis to identify the most probable conditions for detecting the signal.Results. No significant solar wind backscattered protons were ever observed by the instrument. The statement applies to the large spectrum of observation conditions. An upper limit of the backscattered proton flux is given, as well as an upper limit of the backscattering efficiency of 9 A 104.Conclusions. The surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko distinguishes itself as a notably weak reflector of solar wind protons, with its backscattering efficiency, at most, as large as the lowest observed backscattering efficiency from the lunar regolith.
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| 9. |
- Edberg, Niklas J. T., et al.
(författare)
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Scale size of cometary bow shocks
- 2024
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 682
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. In past decades, several spacecraft have visited comets to investigate their plasma environments. In the coming years, Comet Interceptor will make yet another attempt. This time, the target comet and its outgassing activity are unknown and may not be known before the spacecraft has been launched into its parking orbit, where it will await a possible interception. If the approximate outgassing rate can be estimated remotely when a target has been identified, it is desirable to also be able to estimate the scale size of the plasma environment, defined here as the region bound by the bow shock.Aims. This study aims to combine previous measurements and simulations of cometary bow shock locations to gain a better understanding of how the scale size of cometary plasma environments varies. We compare these data with models of the bow shock size, and we furthermore provide an outgassing rate-dependent shape model of the bow shock. We then use this to predict a range of times and cometocentric distances for the crossing of the bow shock by Comet Interceptor, together with expected plasma density measurements along the spacecraft track.Methods. We used data of the location of cometary bow shocks from previous spacecraft missions, together with simulation results from previously published studies. We compared these results with an existing model of the bow shock stand-off distance and expand on this to provide a shape model of cometary bow shocks. The model in particular includes the cometary outgassing rate, but also upstream solar wind conditions, ionisation rates, and the neutral flow velocity.Results. The agreement between the gas-dynamic model and the data and simulation results is good in terms of the stand-off distance of the bow shock as a function of the outgassing rate. For outgassing rates in the range of 1027–1031–s-1, the scale size of cometary bow shocks can vary by four orders of magnitude, from about 102 km to 106 km, for an ionisation rate, flow velocity, and upstream solar wind conditions typical of those at 1 AU. The proposed bow shock shape model shows that a comet plasma environment can range in scale size from the plasma environment of Mars to about half of that of Saturn.Conclusions. The model-data agreement allows for the planning of upcoming spacecraft comet encounters, such as that of Comet Interceptor, when a target has been identified and its outgassing rate is determined. We conclude that the time a spacecraft can spend within the plasma environment during a flyby can range from minutes to days, depending on the comet that is visited and on the flyby speed. However, to capture most of the comet plasma environment, including pick-up ions and upstream plasma waves, and to ensure the highest possible scientific return, measurements should still start well upstream of the expected bow shock location. From the plasma perspective, the selected target should preferably be an active comet with the lowest possible flyby velocity.
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| 10. |
- Fatemi, Shahab, et al.
(författare)
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A modelling approach to infer the solar wind dynamic pressure from magnetic field observations inside Mercury's magnetosphere
- 2018
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 614
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Aims: The lack of an upstream solar wind plasma monitor when a spacecraft is inside the highly dynamic magnetosphere of Mercury limits interpretations of observed magnetospheric phenomena and their correlations with upstream solar wind variations.Methods: We used AMITIS, a three-dimensional GPU-based hybrid model of plasma (particle ions and fluid electrons) to infer the solar wind dynamic pressure and Alfvén Mach number upstream of Mercury by comparing our simulation results with MESSENGER magnetic field observations inside the magnetosphere of Mercury. We selected a few orbits of MESSENGER that have been analysed and compared with hybrid simulations before. Then we ran a number of simulations for each orbit (~30–50 runs) and examined the effects of the upstream solar wind plasma variations on the magnetic fields observed along the trajectory of MESSENGER to find the best agreement between our simulations and observations.Results: We show that, on average, the solar wind dynamic pressure for the selected orbits is slightly lower than the typical estimated dynamic pressure near the orbit of Mercury. However, we show that there is a good agreement between our hybrid simulation results and MESSENGER observations for our estimated solar wind parameters. We also compare the solar wind dynamic pressure inferred from our model with those predicted previously by the WSA-ENLIL model upstream of Mercury, and discuss the agreements and disagreements between the two model predictions. We show that the magnetosphere of Mercury is highly dynamic and controlled by the solar wind plasma and interplanetary magnetic field. In addition, in agreement with previous observations, our simulations show that there are quasi-trapped particles and a partial ring current-like structure in the nightside magnetosphere of Mercury, more evident during a northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). We also use our simulations to examine the correlation between the solar wind dynamic pressure and stand-off distance of the magnetopause and compare it with MESSENGER observations. We show that our model results are in good agreement with the response of the magnetopause to the solar wind dynamic pressure, even during extreme solar events. We also show that our model can be used as a virtual solar wind monitor near the orbit of Mercury and this has important implications for interpretation of observations by MESSENGER and the future ESA/JAXA mission to Mercury, BepiColombo.
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