Search Publications
Characterizing cometary electrons with kappa distributions
Frahm, R. A.; Eriksson, A.; Henri, P. +17 more
The Rosetta spacecraft has escorted comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko since 6 August 2014 and has offered an unprecedented opportunity to study plasma physics in the coma. We have used this opportunity to make the first characterization of cometary electrons with kappa distributions. Two three-dimensional kappa functions were fit to the observations…
Suprathermal electrons near the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko at 3 AU: Model comparisons with Rosetta data
Henri, P.; Edberg, N. J. T.; Goldstein, R. +10 more
Observations of the coma near the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) made by the IES (Ion and Electron Sensor) instrument onboard the Rosetta Orbiter during late 2014 showed that electron fluxes greatly exceeded solar wind electron fluxes. The IES is part of the Rosetta Plasma Consortium. This paper reports on electron energy spectra…
Four-fluid MHD simulations of the plasma and neutral gas environment of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko near perihelion
Hansen, Kenneth C.; Gombosi, Tamas I.; Combi, Michael R. +9 more
The neutral and plasma environment is critical in understanding the interaction of the solar wind and comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (CG), the target of the European Space Agency's Rosetta mission. To serve this need and support the Rosetta mission, we have developed a 3-D four-fluid model, which is based on BATS-R-US (Block-Adaptive Tree Solarwi…
Solar wind interaction with comet 67P: Impacts of corotating interaction regions
Glassmeier, K. -H.; Nilsson, H.; Henri, P. +18 more
We present observations from the Rosetta Plasma Consortium of the effects of stormy solar wind on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Four corotating interaction regions (CIRs), where the first event has possibly merged with a coronal mass ejection, are traced from Earth via Mars (using Mars Express and Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission)…
Photochemistry of forbidden oxygen lines in the inner coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
Gunell, H.; Altwegg, K.; Fuselier, S. A. +19 more
Observations of the green and red-doublet emission lines have previously been realized for several comets. We present here a chemistry-emission coupled model to study the production and loss mechanisms of the O(1S) and O(1D) states, which are responsible for the emission lines of interest for comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. …