Low-Frequency Waves in the interaction region of comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko with the solar wind: First Rosetta results
Tuesday, 2 September 2014
Regency Ballroom (Hyatt Regency)
Karl-Heinz Glassmeier1, Chris Carr2, Emanuele Cupido2, Christoph Koenders1, Ingo Richter1, Bruce T. Tsurutani3, Claire Vallat4 and Martin Volwerk5, (1)TU Braunschweig, Braunschweig, Germany, (2)Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom, (3)NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, United States, (4)ESAC, Villanueva, Spain, (5)Space Research Institute, Graz, Austria
Abstract:
The interaction of comets with the solar wind is dominated by the ionization and subsequent pick-up of cometary neutrals. Non-thermal particle phase space distributions are caused by this pick-up process, leading to the generation of a plethora of low-frequency plasma waves. Wave properties are strongly dependent on the activity level of the comet as well as the size of the interaction region. Here we present first observations of the Rosetta magnetometer experiment, taken during the approach of the spacecraft to the comet. As cometary activity during this pre-landing phase is still low, low-frequency plasma waves will be of a different nature than compared to those already observed at active comets like 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, 1P/Halley, 26P/Grigg-Sjkellerup, or 19P/Borelly. Detailed comparisons of plasma wave characteristics will be discussed partly based on a newly developed analysis tool, the Rosetta Automatic Wave Analyses (RAWA) tool.
