General Features of Comet p/ Halley - Solar Wind Interaction from Plasma Measurements
Anderson, K. A.; Reme, H.; Korth, A.; Lin, R. P.; Carlson, C. W.; Richter, A. K.; Mendis, D. A.; Sauvaud, J. A.; Curtis, D. W.; D'Uston, C.; Cros, A.
France, United States, Germany
Abstract
The Giotto RPA-COPERNIC plasma experiment identified several regions in which the solar wind interaction with the cometary plasma displayed characteristic features: (1) Beginning ∼4.6×106km from the comet there is an upstream region with sporadic connection to the comet, (2) An electron foreshock is present up to 2.5×105km away from the bow shock, (3) A bow shock is detected at 1.15×106km, (4) Between the bow shock and the cometopause the outer regions can be devided into 3 parts, (5) A cometopause is found at ≡1.35×105km and a density decrease is detected at ∼4.5×104km from the comet. The detailed plasma features associated with these regions are successively described.