Related papers: Solar wind dynamics around a comet: The paradigmat…
We aim at analytically modelling the solar wind proton trajectories during their interaction with a partially ionised cometary atmosphere, not in terms of bulk properties of the flow but in terms of single particle dynamics. We first derive…
Solar wind charge-changing reactions are of paramount importance to the physico-chemistry of the atmosphere of a comet. The ESA/Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) provides a unique opportunity to study charge-changing…
Context. The first long-term in-situ observation of the plasma environment in the vicinity of a comet, as provided by the European Rosetta spacecraft. Aims. Here we offer characterisation of the solar wind flow near…
The dynamics of irregularly-shaped particles subjected to the combined effect of gas drag and radiative forces and torques in a cometary environment is investigated. The equations of motion are integrated over distances from the nucleus…
We calculate the momentum flux and pressure of ions measured by the Ion Composition Analyzer (ICA) on the Rosetta mission at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The total momentum flux stays roughly constant over the mission, but the…
The first 1000 km of the ion tail of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko were explored by the European Rosetta spacecraft, 2.7 au away from the Sun. We characterised the dynamics of both the solar wind and the cometary ions on the night-side of…
The Rosetta mission provided detailed observations of the growth of a cavity in the solar wind around comet 67P/CG. As the comet approached the Sun, the plasma of cometary origin grew enough in density and size to present an obstacle to the…
In this work we aim to characterise the dust motion in the inner coma of comet 67P/Churyumov- Gerasimenko to provide constraints for theoretical 3D coma models. The OSIRIS camera onboard the Rosetta mission was able for the first time to…
Context: The ionosphere of a comet is known to deflect the solar wind through mass loading, but the interaction is dependent on cometary activity. We investigate the details of this process at comet 67P using the Rosetta Ion Composition…
We present a model of cometary dust capable of simulating the dynamics within the first few tens of km of the comet surface. Recent measurements by the GIADA and COSIMA instruments on Rosetta show that the nucleus emits fluffy dust…
Small bodies in our Solar System are considered remnants of their early formation. Studying their physical and dynamic properties can provide insights into their evolution, stability, and origin. ESA's Rosetta mission successfully landed…
The Rosetta spacecraft escorted comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for two years, gathering a rich and variable dataset. Amongst the data from the Rosetta Plasma Consortium (RPC) suite of instruments are measurements of the total electron…
Aims. We use four observational data sets, mainly from the Rosetta mission, to constrain the activity pattern of the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Methods. We develop a numerical model that computes the production rate and…
When interacting, the solar wind and the ionised atmosphere of a comet exchange energy and momentum. Our aim is to understand the influence of the average Parker spiral configuration of the solar wind magnetic field on this interaction. We…
Solar wind charge-changing reactions are of paramount importance to the physico-chemistry of the atmosphere of a comet because they mass-load the solar wind through an effective conversion of fast, light solar wind ions into slow, heavy…
The dynamics of a rigid cometary nucleus is described by the evolutions of its center-of-mass and of its rotation state. Solar irradiation that reaches the surface of a cometary nucleus causes the sublimation of volatiles that form the coma…
We present Rosetta RPC case study from four events at various radial distance, phase angle and local time from autumn 2015, just after perihelion of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Pulse like (high amplitude, up to minutes in time)…
We study the dynamics of the interaction between the solar wind ions and a partially ionized atmosphere around a comet, at a distance of 2.88 AU from the sun during a period of low nucleus activity. Comparing particle data and mag- netic…
Comets are made of volatile and refractory material and naturally experience various degrees of sublimation as they orbit around the Sun. This gas release, accompanied by dust, represents what is traditionally described as activity.…
The aim of this study is first to determine the gravity field of the comet 67P Churyumov-Gerasimenko and second to derive the solar component of the precession rate and nutation coefficients of the spin axis of the comet nucleus, i.e.…