Light scattering in cometary dust comae

Detailed single and multiple scattering calculations were carried out for a spherically symmetric cometary atmosphere irradiated by a plane parallel source. Using simplifying assumptions in the single scattering approximation, analytical expressions were derived for the total flux impinging the cometary nucleus, which was shown to be a decreasing function of the coma opacity. Moreover, while highly anisotropic phase functions resulted in more light reaching the nucleus than was the case for isotropic phase functions, the net energy flux at the nucleus surface was still found to be smaller in the presence of a coma than in the no coma case. This increased flux due to the anisotropic phase functions was attributed mostly to the effect of directional scattering in the forward Sun-comet axis. The isotropic multiply scattered flux at the surface was found tobe an increasing function of the opacity, , for 2.5. At larger values of , the maximum in the downward directed scattered flux was still seen to increase, but occurred at a height of several radii above the nucleus, resulting in a reduction at the surface. On the other hand, the total flux at the surface was again shown to be a decreasing function of and always less than in the no coma case. Finally, on comparing the multiply scattered flux with that obtained in the plane parallel approximation, it was quite apparent that except in the vicinity of the Sun-comet axis, the plane parallel geometry tends to underestimate the degree of scattering.NRC Resident Research Associate.