On the classification of comet plasma tails

The investigation of plasma tails of comets is an important part of comet research. Different classifications of plasma tails of comets are proposed. Plasma acceleration in the tails is investigated in sufficient detail. Several cometary forms are explained. Plasma tails of Mars and Venus were observed during the first studies of these planets. They are associated with the capture of ionized atoms and exosphere molecules by the solar wind magnetized plasma flow. Distinct plasma tails of Mars and Venus are caused by the mass loading of the solar wind with heavy ions. It was shown that the transverse dimension of the tails of Mars, Venus, and comets can be quite accurately determined by production rate of the obstacle to the solar wind flow. While plasma tails of Mars and Venus are investigated by in situ measurements from spacecraft, observations of comet tails from the Earth make it possible to see the entire object under study and to monitor changes in its structure. A certain similarity of cometary and planetary tails can be explained by the nonmagnetic nature of both types of bodies. Thus, it is reasonable to suppose that investigations of plasma tails of comets can supplement the information obtained by in situ methods of the study of the planets. In this paper, plasma tails of comets, presumably analogous to the plasma tails of Mars and Venus, have been identified on modern photographs of comets (more than 1500 photographs viewed). Only quasi-steady laminar tails are considered. They are divided into two types: double structures and outflows. The paper attempts to define the 3D structure of double structures and to determine certain characteristics of outflows.     

Dust Grains in the Comae and Tails of Sungrazing Comets: Modeling of Their Mineralogical and Morphological Properties

Observations of sungrazing comets, all of which belong to the Kreutz family, provide the opportunity of studying the properties of dust in the comae and tails of the comets. On the basis of available information on cometary and interplanetary dust as well as observations of dust in the tails of sungrazers, we model dust in sungrazing comets as fluffy silicate aggregates of submicrometer sizes. To better interpret observational data, we numerically calculate the solar radiation pressure, the equilibrium temperature, and the sublimation and crystallization rates of silicate grains near the Sun. Our results show that the dust tails contain aggregates of submicrometer crystal grains, but not amorphous grains, since amorphous silicates mostly crystallize after release from the comets. The peak in the lightcurves of the dust comae observed either at 11.2 or 12.3 solar radii (R_⊙) seems to result from sublimation of fluffy aggregates consisting of crystalline or amorphous olivines, respectively. We attribute an additional enhancement in the lightcurves inside 7 R_⊙ to increasing out-flow of crystalline and amorphous pyroxenes composed fluffy aggregates. According to our model, the observed lightcurves indicate a high abundance of olivine and a low abundance of pyroxene in the comets, which may bear implications about the dynamical and thermal history of the sungrazers and their progenitor.     

Correlation Between the Magnetic Field and Plasma Parameters at 1 AU

The physical parameters of the solar wind observed in-situ near 1 AU have been studied for several decades, and relationships between them, such as the positive correlation between the solar wind plasma temperature, \(T\), and velocity, \(V\), and the negative correlation between density, \(N\), and velocity, \(V\), are well known. However, the magnetic field intensity, \(B\), does not appear to be well correlated with any individual plasma parameter. In this article, we discuss previously under-reported correlations between \(B\) and the combined plasma parameters \(\sqrt{N V^{2}} \) as well as between \(B\) and \(\sqrt{NT}\). These two correlations are strong during periods of corotating interaction regions and high-speed streams, and moderate during intervals of slow solar wind. The results indicate that the magnetic pressure in the solar wind is well correlated both with the plasma dynamic pressure and the thermal pressure.     

Laboratory simulation of the induced magnetospheres of comets and Venus

The comparison of data obtained in laboratory experiments on the solar wind interaction with a body endowed with a plasma shell, the observations of comet type I tails and the direct measurements near Venus show that an induced magnetosphere is formed with an extended magnetic tail. This magnetosphere appears due to currents associated with unipolar induction. The distribution of electrodynamical forces associated with the formation of the induced magnetosphere makes it possible to explain the acceleration of matter towards the tail as in the motion across the tail observed in comets and Venus. The analysis of the condensation motion in Halley's comet yields an estimate of tail magnetic field of 30 to 50. A three-dimensional model of the induced magnetospheres of Venus and comets is developed.     

Large-Scale Structures in Comet Hale–Bopp

The plasma tails of comets clearly show the demarcation of the solar wind into distinct equatorial and polar regions (Brandt and Snow (2000), Icarus 148, 52–64).The boundary is determined by the maximum extent in latitude of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS). The observational record contains many well-observed equatorial comets, but observations of comets in the polar region are relatively rare. In addition to its size and brightness, comet Hale–Bopp had an orbital inclination of 89.4° and was well observed for months in the polar region. We document the comet's large-scale appearance throughout the apparition, including the polar region and its transition into the equatorial region. The bright dust tail hampered observations of the plasma tail, particularly near the head, but images taken with a CO⁺ filter show a very large disconnection event (DE) on May 7 and May 8, 1997. The time of disconnection is estimated at approximately May 4.0. This DE is associated with a crossing of the HCS. The model calculations of the HCS indicate that other crossings might have occurred in late April, but given the uncertainty in the calculation, the comet might have missed the HCS. Sparse observational coverage and the bright dust tail prevent further investigation of the potential earlier HCS crossings. The plasma tail shows anomalous orientations at the highest latitudes and possible explanations are discussed.     

Laboratory simulation of cometary erosion by space plasma

A laboratory experiment has been made where a plasma stream collides with targets made of different materials of cosmic interest. The experiment can be viewed as a process simulation of the solar wind particle interaction with solid surfaces in space — e.g., cometary dust. Special interest is given to sputtering of OH and Na.It is also shown that the erosion of solid particles in interplanetary space at large heliocentric distances is most likely dominated by sputtering and by sublimation near the Sun. The heliocentric distance of the limit between the two regions is determined mainly by the material properties of the eroded surface, e.g., heat of sublimation and sputtering yield, a typical distance being 0.5 AU.It is concluded that the observations of Na in comets at large solar distances, in some cases also near the Sun, is most likely to be explained by solar wind sputtering. OH emission in space could be of importance also from dry, water-free, matter by means of molecule sputtering. The observed OH production rates in comets are however too large to be explained in this way and are certainly the results of sublimation and dissociation of H₂O from an icy nucleus.     

A comparative study of geomagnetic storms for solar cycles 23 and 24

The aim of this paper is to investigate the association of the geomagnetic storms with the magnitude of interplanetary magnetic field IMF (B), solar wind speed (V), product of IMF and wind speed (\(V \cdot B)\), Ap index and solar wind plasma density (\(n_{\mathrm{p}})\) for solar cycles 23 and 24. A Chree analysis by the superposed epoch method has been done for the study. The results of the present analysis showed that \(V \cdot B\) is more geoeffective when compared to V or B alone. Further the high and equal anti-correlation coefficient is found between Dst and Ap index (? 0.7) for both the solar cycles. We have also discussed the relationship between solar wind plasma density (\(n_{\mathrm{p}})\) and Dst and found that both these parameters are weakly correlated with each other. We have found that the occurrence of geomagnetic storms happens on the same day when IMF, V, Ap and \(V \cdot B\) reach their maximum value while 1 day time lag is noticed in case of solar wind plasma density with few exceptions. The study of geomagnetic storms with various solar-interplanetary parameters is useful for the study of space weather phenomenon.     

The composition of dust in Jupiter-family comets inferred from infrared spectroscopy

We review the composition of Jupiter-family comet (JFC) dust as inferred from infrared spectroscopy. We find that JFCs have silicate emission features with fluxes roughly 20-25% over the dust continuum (emission strength 1.20-1.25), similar to the weakest silicate features in Oort Cloud (OC) comets. We discuss the grain properties that alter the silicate emission feature (composition, size, and structure/shape), and emphasize that thermal emission from the comet nucleus can have significant influence on the derived silicate emission strength. Recent evidence suggests that grain porosity is the is different between JFCs and OC comets, but more observations and models of silicates in JFCs are needed to determine if a consistent set of grain parameters can explain their weak silicate emission features. Models of 8 m telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope observations have shown that JFCs have crystalline silicates with abundances similar to or less than those found in OC comets, although the crystalline silicate mineralogy of comets 9P/Tempel and C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) differ from each other in Mg and Fe content. The heterogeneity of comet nuclei can also be assessed with mid-infrared spectroscopy, and we review the evidence for heterogeneous dust properties in the nucleus of comet 9P/Tempel. Models of dust formation, mixing in the solar nebula, and comet formation must be able to explain the observed range of Mg and Fe content and the heterogeneity of comet 9P/Tempel, although more work is needed in order to understand to what extent do comets 9P/Tempel and Hale-Bopp represent comets as a whole.     

Plasma environment of Jupiter family comets

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 into a flowing plasma such as at Mars, Venus, Io, Titan and interstellar neutrals in the solar wind. At comets, ion pickup removes momentum and energy from the solar wind and puts it into cometary particles, which are then thermalised via plasma waves. Here we review what comets have shown us about how this process operates, and briefly look at how this can be applied in other contexts. We review the processes of pitch angle and energy scattering of the pickup ions, and the boundaries and regions in the comet-solar wind interaction. We use in-situ measurements from the four comets visited to date by spacecraft carrying plasma instrumentation: 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, 1P/Halley, 26P/Grigg-Skjellerup and 19P/Borrelly, to illustrate the process in action. While, of these, comet Halley is not a Jupiter class comet, it has told us the most about cometary plasma environments. The other comets, which are from the Jupiter family, give an interesting comparison as they have lower gas production rates and less-developed interactions. We examine the prospects for Rosetta at comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko, another Jupiter family comet where a wide range of gas production rates will be studied.     

Interfacing MHD Single Fluid and Kinetic Exospheric Solar Wind Models and Comparing Their Energetics

An exospheric kinetic solar wind model is interfaced with an observation-driven single-fluid magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model. Initially, a photospheric magnetogram serves as observational input in the fluid approach to extrapolate the heliospheric magnetic field. Then semi-empirical coronal models are used for estimating the plasma characteristics up to a heliocentric distance of 0.1 AU. From there on, a full MHD model that computes the three-dimensional time-dependent evolution of the solar wind macroscopic variables up to the orbit of Earth is used. After interfacing the density and velocity at the inner MHD boundary, we compare our results with those of a kinetic exospheric solar wind model based on the assumption of Maxwell and Kappa velocity distribution functions for protons and electrons, respectively, as well as with in situ observations at 1 AU. This provides insight into more physically detailed processes, such as coronal heating and solar wind acceleration, which naturally arise from including suprathermal electrons in the model. We are interested in the profile of the solar wind speed and density at 1 AU, in characterizing the slow and fast source regions of the wind, and in comparing MHD with exospheric models in similar conditions. We calculate the energetics of both models from low to high heliocentric distances.     

Comets C/2001 Q4 and C/2004 Q2: Structure of plasma tails

The plasma tails of comets C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) and C/2004 Q2 (Machholz) are investigated. For each comet we calculate the aberration angle, i.e., the angle between the cometary tail axis and the prolonged radius vector of the comet. The aberration angles are used to estimate the radial velocity of the solar wind in May 2004 and January–February 2005. The calculated velocities are compared to the solar wind velocities measured by space apparatuses in the circumterrestrial space. Possible causes of disagreement between these data are discussed     

Origin and Ion Charge State Evolution of Solar Wind Transients during 4 – 7 August 2011

We present a study of the complex event consisting of several solar wind transients detected by the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) on 4?–?7 August 2011, which caused a geomagnetic storm with \(\mathit{Dst}=-110~\mbox{nT}\). The supposed coronal sources, three flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), occurred on 2?–?4 August 2011 in active region (AR) 11261. To investigate the solar origin and formation of these transients, we study the kinematic and thermodynamic properties of the expanding coronal structures using the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA) EUV images and differential emission measure (DEM) diagnostics. The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) magnetic field maps were used as the input data for the 3D magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model to describe the flux rope ejection (Pagano, Mackay, and Poedts, 2013b). We characterize the early phase of the flux rope ejection in the corona, where the usual three-component CME structure formed. The flux rope was ejected with a speed of about \(200~\mbox{km}\,\mbox{s}^{-1}\) to the height of \(0.25~\mbox{R}_{\odot}\). The kinematics of the modeled CME front agrees well with the Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) EUV measurements. Using the results of the plasma diagnostics and MHD modeling, we calculate the ion charge ratios of carbon and oxygen as well as the mean charge state of iron ions of the 2 August 2011 CME, taking into account the processes of heating, cooling, expansion, ionization, and recombination of the moving plasma in the corona up to the frozen-in region. We estimate a probable heating rate of the CME plasma in the low corona by matching the calculated ion composition parameters of the CME with those measured in situ for the solar wind transients. We also consider the similarities and discrepancies between the results of the MHD simulation and the observations.     

Corotating Shock Waves and the Solar-wind Source of Energetic Ion bundances: Power Laws in $$/Q$Q$

We find that element abundances in energetic ions accelerated by shock waves formed at corotating interaction regions (CIRs) mirror the abundances of the solar wind modified by a decreasing power-law dependence on the mass-to-charge ratio \(A\)/\(Q\) of the ions. This behavior is similar in character to the well-known power-law dependence on \(A\)/\(Q\) of abundances in large gradual solar energetic particles (SEP). The CIR ions reflect the pattern of \(A\)/\(Q\), with \(Q\) values of the source plasma temperature or freezing-in temperature of 1.0?–?1.2 MK typical of the fast solar wind in this case. Thus the relative ion abundances in CIRs are of the form \((A\mbox{/}Q)^{a}\), where \(a\) is nearly always negative and evidently decreases with distance from the shocks, which usually begin beyond 1 AU. For one unusual historic CIR event where \(a \approx 0\), the reverse shock wave of the CIR seems to occur at 1 AU, and these abundances of the energetic ions become a direct proxy for the abundances of the fast solar wind.     

Evolution of C/2006 M4 (SWAN) comet tails

We studied variations in the structure of plasma and dust tails of the C/2006 M4 (SWAN) comet during a long observation period (September–December 2006). We found sizes of grains ejected by the comet from the synchronic-syndynamic analysis of comet images. We calculated solar wind speed for high heliographic latitudes from calculations of the aberration angle of the comet plasma tail. Rapid changes in the calculated values of the solar wind speed are caused by its variable transversal component.     

The nature of the solar wind interaction with CO2/CO-dominated comets

The varying overall nature of the solar wind interaction with the ionospheres of CO and CO₂-dominated comets is investigated and compared with previous results for H₂O-dominated comets. It is shown that as a comet approaches the sun, it may exhibit one of two types of ionospheric transitions. (In rare circumstances, the cometary ionosphere may display a third type of transition in addition to one of the first two). For both transitions, the ionosphere turns from being hard (in other words, the ionosphere is not susceptible to compression under sudden solar wind pressure increases) to soft. However, for one type of transition, the bow shock changes from being weak (M2) to being strong (M10), whereas for the other type of transition, the bow shock remains weak. The heliocentric distance at which these transitions may occur is found to be a function of the cometary nuclear radius, the latent heat of sublimation of the surface volatiles, the surface bolometric albedo and the following ionospheric properties: the optical depth, the average ionization time scale and the amount of heat addition. Two important consequences of the strong shocks are the large solar wind velocity modulation of the energization of electrons at the bow-shock and the relatively quick formation of cometary plasma tails.These results are applied to the case of comet Humason (1962 VIII). It is shown that either a CO or CO₂ dominated surface can explain not only the strong coma and tail activity of this comet at large heliocentric distances, but it can also explain the irregular activity of this comet at such distances.     

Relationship of comets and planets

We analyze our earlier data on the numerical integration of the equations of motion for 274 short-period comets (with the period P<200 yr) on a time interval of 6000 yr. As many as 54 comets had no close approaches to planets, 13 comets passed through the Saturnian sphere of action, and one comet passed through the Uranian sphere of action. The orbital elements of these 68 comets changed by no more than ±3 percent in a space of 6000 yr. As many as 206 comets passed close to Jupiter. We confirm Everhart’s conclusion that Jupiter can capture long-period comets with q = 4–6 AU and i < 9° into short-period orbits. We show that nearly parabolic comets cross the solar system mainly in the zone of terrestrial planets. No relationship of nearly parabolic comets and terrestrial planets was found for the epoch of the latest apparition of comets. Guliev’s conjecture about two trans-Plutonian planets is based on the illusory excess of cometary nodes at large heliocentric distances. The existence of cometary nodes at the solar system periphery turns out to be a solely geometrical effect.     

Opportunities for the stratospheric collection of dust from short‐period comets

Abstract— We have identified four comets which have produced low‐velocity Earth‐crossing dust streams within the past century: 7P/Pons‐Winnecke, 26P/Grigg‐Skjellerup, 73P/Schwassmann‐Wachmann 3, and 103P/Hartley 2. These comets have had the rare characteristics of low eccentricity, low inclination orbits with nodes very close to 1 AU. Dust from these comets is directly injected into Earth‐crossing orbits by radiation pressure, unlike the great majority of interplanetary dust particles collected in the stratosphere which spend millennia in space prior to Earth‐encounter. Complete dust streams from these comets form within a few decades, and appreciable amounts of dust are accreted by the Earth each year regardless of the positions of the parent comets. Dust from these comets could be collected in the stratosphere and identified by its short space exposure age, as indicated by low abundances of implanted solar‐wind noble gases and/or lack of solar flare tracks. Dust from Grigg‐Skjellerup probably has the highest concentration at Earth orbit. We estimate that the proportion of dust from this comet will reach at least several percent of the background interplanetary dust flux in the >40 μm size range during April 23–24 of 2003.     

The “FIP Effect” and the Origins of Solar Energetic Particles and of the Solar Wind

We find that the element abundances in solar energetic particles (SEPs) and in the slow solar wind (SSW), relative to those in the photosphere, show different patterns as a function of the first ionization potential (FIP) of the elements. Generally, the SEP and SSW abundances reflect abundance samples of the solar corona, where low-FIP elements, ionized in the chromosphere, are more efficiently conveyed upward to the corona than high-FIP elements that are initially neutral atoms. Abundances of the elements, especially C, P, and S, show a crossover from low to high FIP at \({\approx}\,10~\mbox{eV}\) in the SEPs but \({\approx}\,14~\mbox{eV}\) for the solar wind. Naively, this seems to suggest cooler plasma from sunspots beneath active regions. More likely, if the ponderomotive force of Alfvén waves preferentially conveys low-FIP ions into the corona, the source plasma that eventually will be shock-accelerated as SEPs originates in magnetic structures where Alfvén waves resonate with the loop length on closed magnetic field lines. This concentrates FIP fractionation near the top of the chromosphere. Meanwhile, the source of the SSW may lie near the base of diverging open-field lines surrounding, but outside of, active regions, where such resonance does not exist, allowing fractionation throughout the chromosphere. We also find that energetic particles accelerated from the solar wind itself by shock waves at corotating interaction regions, generally beyond 1 AU, confirm the FIP pattern of the solar wind.     

Electrolysis in space and fate of Phaethon

A new process of the energy accumulation in icy bodies (e.g., planetary satellites, cometary nuclei) is advanced which is applicable for space conditions: namely, the volumetric electrolysis of the ice containing foreign inclusions. The electrolysis takes place when the electric current, generated by virtue of the body's movement in the external magnetic field (planetary magnetospheres, the solar wind field, etc.) flows through the body.The cosmogonical concept which treats the Sun-Jupiter system as a limiting case of a close binary star, together with the known data on mass, composition and space distribution of asteroids, allows one to assume the initial existence between Mars and Jupiter of a Moon-like planet enriched with ices and allied by its parameters to the Galilean satellites (mainly Ganymede and Callisto). If this planet was affected by the ancient solar wind with during 10⁹ yr, it could have accumulated the energy sufficient for its explosion.The process considered seems able to explain, from a unified point of view, a large number of phenomena — such as the burst activity of comets, a considerable hydrogen excess in their tails, a noticeable long-period comet perihelia orientation toward the solar apex, the existence of asteroidal families and the separation of asteroids by their chemical composition into two main groups, the Tunguska event, etc.     

Relation Between Coronal Hole Areas and Solar Wind Speeds Derived from Interplanetary Scintillation Measurements

We investigate the relation between coronal hole (CH) areas and solar wind speeds during 1995?–?2011 using the potential field (PF) model analysis of magnetograph observations and interplanetary scintillation (IPS) observations by the Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research (formerly Solar-Terrestrial Environment Laboratory) of Nagoya University. We obtained a significant positive correlation between the CH areas (\(A\)) derived from the PF model calculations and solar wind speeds (\(V\)) derived from the IPS observations. The correlation coefficients between them are usually high, but they drop significantly in solar maxima. The slopes of the \(A\)?–?\(V\) relation are roughly constant except for the period around solar maximum, when flatter or steeper slopes are observed. The excursion of the correlation coefficients and slopes at solar maxima is ascribed partly to the effect of rapid structural changes in the coronal magnetic field and solar wind, and partly to the predominance of small CHs. It is also demonstrated that \(V\) is inversely related to the flux expansion factor (\(f\)) and that \(f\) is closely related to \(A^{-1/2}\); hence, \(V \propto A^{1/2}\). A better correlation coefficient is obtained from the \(A^{1/2}\)?–?\(V\) relation, and this fact is useful for improving space weather predictions. We compare the CH areas derived from the PF model calculations with He i 1083 nm observations and show that the PF model calculations provide reliable estimates of the CH area, particularly for large \(A\).