Overview of recent analysis of the energetic particle observations recorded in Situ by the EPONA instrument on the Giotto Mission to Comet Halley
1990; Elsevier BV; Volume: 87; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/0019-1035(90)90146-z
ISSN1090-2643
AutoresS. McKenna‐Lawlor, P. W. Daly, E. Kirsch, F. M. Neubauer, D. O’Sullivan, A. Thompson, P. Wenzel,
Tópico(s)Stellar, planetary, and galactic studies
ResumoHighlights of recent results obtained through analyzing data recorded by the energetic particles experiment EPONA on the Giotto Mission to Comet Halley (March 12–15, 1986) from ∼7 × 106 km upstream of the bow shock (inbound) to ∼6 × 106 km upstream of the bow shock (outbound) are presented. The identities of the ions recorded, which displayed energies in excess of those attributable to the pickup process acting alone, are discussed and evidence is presented to indicate that these ions were of the water group. Indications of the local influence of various acceleration processes in energizing particles along different sections of the Giotto Encounter trajectory are provided. Spin modulation of the outgassing rate of the nucleus may have been responsible for quasiperiodic variations in the flux levels observed inbound and outbound. A dramatic burst of energetic particles deemed to be of cometary origin, recorded while the spacecraft traversed the magnetic pileup region and the magnetic cavity, is an unexpected feature of the in situ observations, uniquely recorded by the EPONA instrument.
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