The plasma environment of comet 67P/Churyumov-GerasimenkoPhysics Department, Leach Science Center, Auburn University, AL, Auburn, United States.
Southwest Research Institute, P.O. Drawer 28510, TX, San Antonio, United States.
Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of Colorado Boulder, 3665 Discovery Drive, CO, Boulder, United States.
Earth Physics Department, St. Petersburg State University, Ulianovskaya, 1, St Petersburg, Russian Federation.
Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Box 537, Uppsala, Sweden.
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, MD, Baltimore, United States.
Department of Physics, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, United Kingdom.
Lagrange, OCA, UCA, CNRS, Nice, France; LPC2E, CNRS, Orléans, France.
Department of Physics, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, United Kingdom.
UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, United Kingdom; The Centre for Planetary Sciences at UCL/Birkbeck, Gower Street, London, United Kingdom.
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, MD, Laurel, United States.
Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Box 812, Kiruna, Sweden.
Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona, AZ, Tucson, United States.
Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Box 537, Uppsala, Sweden.
Southwest Research Institute, CO, Boulder, United States.
Physikalisches Institut, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, Bern, Switzerland.
Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Schmiedlstr. 6, Graz, Austria.
Department of Physics, Imperial College London, Prince Consort Road, London, United Kingdom.
ESTEC, European Space Agency, Keplerlaan 1, AZ Noordwijk, Netherlands.
Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Box 537, Uppsala, Sweden.
Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, MD, Laurel, United States.
Space Research Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Schmiedlstr. 6, Graz, Austria.
Visa övriga samt affilieringar
2022 (Engelska)Ingår i: Space Science Reviews, ISSN 0038-6308, E-ISSN 1572-9672, Vol. 218, nr 8, artikel-id 65Artikel, forskningsöversikt (Refereegranskat) Published
Abstract [en]
The environment of a comet is a fascinating and unique laboratory to study plasma processes and the formation of structures such as shocks and discontinuities from electron scales to ion scales and above. The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission collected data for more than two years, from the rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in August 2014 until the final touch-down of the spacecraft end of September 2016. This escort phase spanned a large arc of the comet's orbit around the Sun, including its perihelion and corresponding to heliocentric distances between 3.8 AU and 1.24 AU. The length of the active mission together with this span in heliocentric and cometocentric distances make the Rosetta data set unique and much richer than sets obtained with previous cometary probes. Here, we review the results from the Rosetta mission that pertain to the plasma environment. We detail all known sources and losses of the plasma and typical processes within it. The findings from in-situ plasma measurements are complemented by remote observations of emissions from the plasma. Overviews of the methods and instruments used in the study are given as well as a short review of the Rosetta mission. The long duration of the Rosetta mission provides the opportunity to better understand how the importance of these processes changes depending on parameters like the outgassing rate and the solar wind conditions. We discuss how the shape and existence of large scale structures depend on these parameters and how the plasma within different regions of the plasma environment can be characterised. We end with a non-exhaustive list of still open questions, as well as suggestions on how to answer them in the future.
Ort, förlag, år, upplaga, sidor
Springer, 2022. Vol. 218, nr 8, artikel-id 65
Nationell ämneskategori
Fusion, plasma och rymdfysik
Identifikatorer
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-201212DOI: 10.1007/s11214-022-00931-1ISI: 000881719500001PubMedID: 36397966Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85141756075OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-201212DiVA, id: diva2:1719516
Forskningsfinansiär
The European Space Agency (ESA), RDAP 80NSSC19K1306
Anmärkning
Work at Umeå University was supported by the Swedish National Space Agency, grant 108/18.
2022-12-152022-12-152024-07-02Bibliografiskt granskad