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Giotto measurements of cometary and solar wind plasma at the Comet Halley bow shock

Coates, A. J.; Winningham, J. D.; Anderson, K. A. +19 more

The interaction of comets with the solar wind depends on the ionization of the heavy cometary neutrals (mostly H₂O and its dissociation products O, OH) which flow out from the nucleus, and the coupling of these newly produced cometary ions with the solar wind through its embedded magnetic field. The 'pick-up' of these heavy ions slows t…