Dust distribution in the inner coma of comet Halley: Comparison with models
1989; Elsevier BV; Volume: 81; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1016/0019-1035(89)90123-1
ISSN1090-2643
AutoresH. J. Reitsema, W. A. Delamere, Andrew Ray Williams, D. C. Boice, W. F. Huebner, Fred L. Whipple,
Tópico(s)Astrophysics and Star Formation Studies
ResumoThe images of the inner coma of comet Halley that were taken with the Giotto camera have been evaluated to obtain information on the near-nucleus dust distribution and its relationship to the nuclear source regions. Over two-thirds of the dust in the inner coma can be modeled remarkably well with only three source regions, each emitting dust into broad jets with opening half-angles of 30 to 50°. The dust in the jets is not sharply bounded but disperses with a Gaussian cross section, consistent with a model in which both gas and dust emissions are confined to finite source regions. Departures from the simple R−1 relationship for the radial distribution of dust near the nucleus are reproduced by a model that considers the source region as a composite of adjacent subareas, each emitting dust into cones with opening half-angles of about 10°. Comparison of the azimuthal and radial dust distributions with model predictions gives information on the coma dust, the dust-gas interaction, and the properties of the emitting regions.
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