The plasma environment of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko probed with the Rosetta orbiter: Current Observations

Marilia Samara1, James L Burch2, Thomas W Broiles3, George B Clark4, Thomas Cravens5, Raymond Goldstein6, Kathleen Mandt3, Prachet Mokashi6, Craig J Pollock7 and The Rosetta Plasma Consortium Science Team, (1)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (2)Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, United States, (3)Southwest Research Institute San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, (4)Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, (5)University of Kansas, Physics and Astronomy, Lawrence, KS, United States, (6)Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States, (7)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, United States

Contact First Author: Marilia Samara; marilia.samara@nasa.gov

Previously Published Material: Findings related to IES have been presented at the Fall AGU meeting in San Francisco in December 2014.

Abstract ID#: 35906

 

English Abstract:
Rosetta is the first spacecraft to ever orbit a comet and closely monitor its nucleus activity and coma development as it travels through the inner solar system. Currently Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) is still relatively far from the Sun (> 2.5 AU), and consequently, plasma activity was expected to be low or negligible. However, the first six months of measurements made with the Rosetta Plasma Consortium Ion and Electron Sensor (RPC-IES)—a dual top-hat electrostatic analyzer that measures the 3D fluxes of electrons and ions from ~4 eV to ~20 keV—have revealed a dynamic plasma environment that is both rich and diverse. The density of the plasma near the comet will increase as it approaches the Sun, and Rosetta will have an unprecedented opportunity to follow the evolution of the plasma environment close to 67P/C-G resulting in new insights and questions. We provide a summary of current observations and future questions that IES and RPC may address with new data as activity grows with the comet’s approach to perihelion.
Back to: Rosetta Mission: Science From the Pre-perihelion Phase