Publikationsdatum:
2019-07-12
Beschreibung:
Measurements obtained with the Dust Counter and Mass Analyzer instruments on the Vega 1 and 2 spacecraft are used to study properties of the coma of comet P/Halley. Well-defined envelope boundaries for the inverse square dependence of flux with distance from the nucleus are found, and regions of enhanced fluxes above these R exp -2 baselines inside these boundaries are identified as dust jets. The mass spectrum of the giant flux enhancement noted near the closest approach of Vega 1 is shown to be similar to the preencounter spectra. The data suggest the emission from the nucleus of large conglomerates of small particles which disintegrate as they travel outward, explaining the 10 to the -13th g particles observed beyond the envelope boundaries.
Schlagwort(e):
ASTROPHYSICS
Materialart:
Astronomy and Astrophysics (ISSN 0004-6361); 187; 1-2; 742-752
Format:
text
