| 1. |
- Gunell, Herbert, et al.
(författare)
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Polarisation of a small-scale cometary plasma environment : Particle-in-cell modelling of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
- 2019
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 631
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context: The plasma near the nucleus of a comet is subjected to an electric field to which a few different sources contribute: the convective electric field of the solar wind, the ambipolar electric field due to higher electron than ion speeds, and a polarisation field arising from the vastly different ion and electron trajectories.Aims: Our aim is to show how the ambipolar and polarisation electric fields arise and develop under the influence of space charge effects, and in doing so we paint a qualitative picture of the electric fields in the inner coma of a comet.Methods. We use an electrostatic particle-in-cell model to simulate a scaled-down comet, representing comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with parameters corresponding to a 3.0 AU heliocentric distance.Results: We find that an ambipolar electric field develops early in the simulation and that this is soon followed by the emergence of a polarisation electric field, manifesting itself as an anti-sunward component prevalent in the region surrounding the centre of the comet. As plasma is removed from the inner coma in the direction of the convectional electric field of the solar wind, a density maximum develops on the opposite side of the centre of the comet.Conclusions: The ambipolar and polarisation electric fields both have a significant influence on the motion of cometary ions. This demonstrates the importance of space charge effects in comet plasma physics.
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| 2. |
- Vorburger, Audrey, et al.
(författare)
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Three‐Dimensional Modeling of Callisto's Surface Sputtered Exosphere Environment
- 2019
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Ingår i: Journal of Geophysical Research - Space Physics. - 2169-9380 .- 2169-9402. ; 124:8, s. 7157-7169
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We study the release of various elements from Callisto's surface into its exosphere by plasma sputtering. The cold Jovian plasma is simulated with a 3‐D plasma‐planetary interaction hybrid model, which produces 2‐D surface precipitation maps for magnetospheric H+, O+, O++, and S++. For the hot Jovian plasma, we assume isotropic precipitation onto the complete spherical surface. Two scenarios are investigated: one where no ionospheric shielding takes place and accordingly full plasma penetration is implemented (no‐ionosphere scenario) and one where an ionosphere lets virtually none of the cold plasma but all of the hot plasma reach Callisto's surface (ionosphere scenario). In the 3‐D exosphere model, neutral particles are sputtered from the surface and followed on their individual trajectories. The 3‐D density profiles show that whereas in the no‐ionosphere scenario the ram direction is favored, the ionosphere scenario produces almost uniform density profiles. In addition, the density profiles in the ionosphere scenario are reduced by a factor of ∼2.5 with respect to the no‐ionosphere scenario. We find that the Neutral Gas and Ion Mass Spectrometer, which is part of the Particle Environment Package on board the JUpiter ICy moons Explorer mission, will be able to detect the different sputter populations from Callisto's icy surface and the major sputter populations from Callisto's nonicy surface. The chemical composition of Callisto's exosphere can be directly linked to the chemical composition of its surface and will offer us information not only on Callisto's formation scenario but also on the building blocks of the Jupiter system.
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