The in-situ cometary particulate size distribution measured for one comet: P/Halley

التفاصيل البيبلوغرافية
العنوان: The in-situ cometary particulate size distribution measured for one comet: P/Halley
المؤلفون: Mcdonnell, J. A. M, Pankiewicz, G. S
المصدر: Lunar and Planetary Inst., Workshop on Analysis of Returned Comet Nucleus Samples.
بيانات النشر: United States: NASA Center for Aerospace Information (CASI), 1989.
سنة النشر: 1989
مصطلحات موضوعية: Astrophysics
الوصف: The close approach of Giotto to comet Halley during its 1986 apparition offered an opportunity to study the particulate mass distribution to masses of up to one gram. Data acquired by the front end channels of the highly sensitive mass spectrometer PIA and the dust shield detector system, DIDSY, provide definition to the detected distribution as close as 1000 km to the nucleus. Dynamic motion of the particulates after emission leads to a spatial differentiation affecting the size distribution in several forms: (1) ejecta velocity dispersion; (2) radiation pressure; (3) varying heliocentric distance; and (4) anisotropic nucleus emission. Transformation of the in-situ distribution from PIA and DIDSY weighted heavily by the near-nucleus fluxes leads to a presumed nucleus distribution. The data lead to a puzzling distribution at large masses, not readily explained in an otherwise monotonous power law distribution. Although temporal changes in nucleus activity could and do modify the in-situ size distribution, such an explanation is not wholly possible, because the same form is observed at differing locations in the coma where the time of flight from the nucleus greatly varies. Thus neither a general change in comet activity nor spatial variations lead to a satisfactory explanation.
نوع الوثيقة: Report
اللغة: English
URL الوصول: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/citations/19900007321
رقم الانضمام: edsnas.19900007321
قاعدة البيانات: NASA Technical Reports