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Plasma environment of Jupiter family comets
Coates, A. J.; Jones, G. H.
As any comet nears the Sun, gas sublimes from the nucleus taking dust with it. Jupiter family comets are no exception. The neutral gas becomes ionized, and the interaction of a comet with the solar wind starts with ion pickup. This key process is also important in other solar system contexts wherever neutral particles become ionized and injected i…
Simultaneous measurements of Martian plasma boundaries by Rosetta and Mars Express
Barabash, S.; Lundin, R.; Fränz, M. +15 more
We present the first two-spacecraft near-simultaneous observations of the Martian bow shock (BS), magnetic pileup boundary (MPB) and photo-electron boundary (PEB) obtained by the plasma instruments onboard Rosetta and Mars Express during the Rosetta Mars flyby on February 25, 2007. Our observations are compared with shape models for the BS and MPB…
Probing the internal structure of the nuclei of comets
Lasue, J.; Levasseur-Regourd, A. C.; Hadamcik, E. +1 more
There is no direct evidence about the internal structure of cometary nuclei, which are mostly hidden by their gas and dust comae, and have not yet been orbited by any spacecraft. Their densities are low, typically of about 400 kg m -3 for 9P/Tempel 1 (that was impacted by the Deep Impact probe) and 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (that is the…
The nuclei of Jupiter family comets: A critical review of our present knowledge
Thomas, Nicolas
Of the currently over 300 identified Jupiter family comets (JFCs), we have estimated nucleus sizes and shapes for fewer than 70 and have detailed nucleus observations arising from spacecraft fly-bys for just 3: 19P/Borrelly (Deep Space 1), 81P/Wild 2 (Stardust), and 9P/Tempel 1 (Deep Impact). These observations reveal similarities but also signifi…