Exploration of the Dust Environment of the Inner Coma of Comet Halley

Abstract

Observations of the dust environment of Comet Halley obtained with Giotto, Vega, Susuei, and Sakigake spacecraft are presented and analyzed. Optical/IR, interplanetary space environment, flux and composition, and dynamics and trajectories experiments were conducted. The relation between the dust environment of comets and meteoroid streams is discussed. It is observed that the fluxes range up to 10 to the 6th/sq m per sec for the smallest particles (10 to the -20th kg); drift velocity is size dependent; the trajectory is affected by solar radiation pressure; and silicatelike and CHON particles are detected in the spectra.