Search Publications
Trajectories of charged dust grains in the cometary environment
Horanyi, M.; Mendis, D. A.
Using a simple model of the particles and fields environment of a comet, the trajectories of the smallest (micron- and submicron-sized) dust grains that are expected to be released from a cometary nucleus are calculated. It is shown that electromagnetic forces play a crucial role in the dynamics of these particles. The present calculations indicat…
A space-borne plasma analyser for three-dimensional measurements of the velocity distribution
Coates, A. J.; Winningham, J. D.; Johnstone, A. D. +3 more
A new type of plasma analyzer, capable of covering the three-dimensional energy distribution of charged particles from a spinning spacecraft, has been built for the AMPTE and GIOTTO spacecraft. The novel features are the use of 260 deg of deflection in a spherical plate electrostatic analyzer to obtain energy discrimination simultaneously with dis…
Interpretation of the measurements of secondary electron currents induced by impacts during the flyby of comet Halley
Grün, E.; Grard, R.; Apáthy, I. +3 more
The Giotto, Vega-1 and Vega-2 spacecraft flew through the environment of comet Halley at a relatively close range with velocities of the order of 70-80 km/s. The fore sections of their surface were bombarded by neutral molecules and dust grains which caused the emission of secondary electrons and sputtered ions. This paper makes use of the seconda…
Dust emission of Comet Halley at large heliocentric distances
Gruen, E.; Schwehm, G.; Massonne, L. +2 more
Comet Halley is currently approaching the inner solar system. Four spacecrafts (NASA's spacecraft, two Russian Vega probes and the Japanese MS-T5 spacecraft) have already been launched to encounter the comet in March 1986. Two additional Halley probes (the European Giotto spacecraft and another Japanese Planet-A probe) will be launched in mid-85 t…