Ion acoustic waves near a comet nucleus: Rosetta observations at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko

Gunell, H.; Goetz, Charlotte; Odelstad, Elias; Beth, Arnaud; Hamrin, Maria; Henri, Pierre; Johansson, Fredrik; Nilsson, Hans; Wieser, Gabriella Stenberg

doi:10.5194/angeo-39-53-2021

Cited by 6 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Ion acoustic waves were also observed during the close flyby on 28 March 2015, when Rosetta passed the nucleus at 15 km cometocentric distance (Gunell et al. 2021 ). The authors interpreted the observations in terms of a current-driven instability, where the current is associated with the draping observed by Koenders et al.…”

Section: Plasmamentioning

confidence: 98%

The Plasma Environment of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

et al. 2022

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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.

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Section: Plasmamentioning

confidence: 98%

The Plasma Environment of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

et al. 2022

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“…( 2017 ), and ion acoustic waves, e.g., Gunell et al. ( 2021 ). It is, however, not clear in which region of the coma these waves are present and how they depend on comet activity.…”

Section: Scientific Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Comet Interceptor Mission

Jones,

Snodgrass,

Tubiana

et al. 2024

Space Sci Rev

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Here we describe the novel, multi-point Comet Interceptor mission. It is dedicated to the exploration of a little-processed long-period comet, possibly entering the inner Solar System for the first time, or to encounter an interstellar object originating at another star. The objectives of the mission are to address the following questions: What are the surface composition, shape, morphology, and structure of the target object? What is the composition of the gas and dust in the coma, its connection to the nucleus, and the nature of its interaction with the solar wind? The mission was proposed to the European Space Agency in 2018, and formally adopted by the agency in June 2022, for launch in 2029 together with the Ariel mission. Comet Interceptor will take advantage of the opportunity presented by ESA’s F-Class call for fast, flexible, low-cost missions to which it was proposed. The call required a launch to a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point. The mission can take advantage of this placement to wait for the discovery of a suitable comet reachable with its minimum $\varDelta $ Δ V capability of $600\text{ ms}^{-1}$ 600 ms − 1 . Comet Interceptor will be unique in encountering and studying, at a nominal closest approach distance of 1000 km, a comet that represents a near-pristine sample of material from the formation of the Solar System. It will also add a capability that no previous cometary mission has had, which is to deploy two sub-probes – B1, provided by the Japanese space agency, JAXA, and B2 – that will follow different trajectories through the coma. While the main probe passes at a nominal 1000 km distance, probes B1 and B2 will follow different chords through the coma at distances of 850 km and 400 km, respectively. The result will be unique, simultaneous, spatially resolved information of the 3-dimensional properties of the target comet and its interaction with the space environment. We present the mission’s science background leading to these objectives, as well as an overview of the scientific instruments, mission design, and schedule.

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“…The plasma environment of a comet is a complex mix of ions of different species and origin and relative velocities, electrons of different temperatures, neutral molecules and dust particles of different sizes and charge states. Solar wind interactions with the cometary plasma gives rise to instabilities that drive waves of various kinds, including ion-cyclotron and/or mirrormode waves, e.g., Mazelle et al (1991), harmonic waves created by the ion-Weibel instability (the "singing comet" waves found by Rosetta; Weibel (1959), Richter et al (2015), Meier et al (2016), Glassmeier (2017)), lower hybrid waves, e.g., Karlsson et al (2017), and ion acoustic waves, e.g., Gunell et al (2021). It is, however, not clear in which region of the coma these waves are present and how they depend on comet activity.…”

Section: The Value Of Multi-point Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comet Interceptor Mission

Jones¹,

Snodgrass²,

Tubiana³

et al. 2023

Encyclopedia of Astrobiology

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Here we describe the novel, multi-point Comet Interceptor mission. It is dedicated to the exploration of a little-processed long-period comet, possibly entering the inner Solar System for the first time, or to encounter an interstellar object originating at another star. The objectives of the mission are to address the following questions: What are the surface composition, shape, morphology, and structure of the target object? What is the composition of the gas and dust in the coma, its connection to the nucleus, and the nature of its interaction with the solar wind? The mission was proposed to the European Space Agency in 2018, and formally adopted by the agency in June 2022, for launch in 2029 together with the Ariel mission. Comet Interceptor will take advantage of the opportunity presented by ESA's F-Class call for fast, flexible, low-cost missions to which it was proposed. The call required a launch to a halo orbit around the Sun-Earth L2 point. The mission can take advantage of this placement to wait for the discovery of a suitable comet reachable with its minimum ΔV capability of 600 ms −1 . Comet Interceptor will be unique in encountering and studying, at a nominal closest approach distance of 1000 km, a comet that represents a near-pristine sample of material from the formation of the Solar System. It will also add a capability that no previous cometary mission has had, which is to deploy two sub-probes -B1, provided by the Japanese space agency, JAXA, and B2 -that will follow different trajectories through the coma. While the main probe passes at a nominal 1000 km distance, probes B1 and B2 will follow different chords through the coma at distances of 850 km and 400 km, respectively. The result will be unique, simultaneous, spatially resolved information of the 3-dimensional properties of the target comet and its interaction with the space environment. We present the mission's science background leading to these objectives, as well as an overview of the scientific instruments, mission design, and schedule.

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Ion acoustic waves near a comet nucleus: Rosetta observations at comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko

Cited by 6 publications

References 52 publications

The Plasma Environment of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

The Plasma Environment of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

The Comet Interceptor Mission

Comet Interceptor Mission

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