Abstract Analysis of the time of arrival and mass distributions of Comet Halley dust particles based on measurements by the dust counter and mass analyzer (DUCMA) on the VEGA-1 and VEGA-2 spacecraft has led to the discovery that the time distribution of dust particle detection is not random, both within and beyond the dust envelopes. The dust is detected as ‘clusters’ of particles (∼ 10 s duration). We now report a preliminary analysis of the data from the dust instrument of the Space Research Institute, Moscow (SP-1), which was also onboard the VEGA spacecrafts and whose mass range overlaps that of DUCMA (∼ 10−13 g to ≥ 10−10 g). We report that the sequence of pulses recorded by the SP-1 instruments in some cases show deviations from a random distribution and that some of the non-random sequences (‘clusters’) observed by SP-1 arrive in the same time intervals as clusters observed by the DUCMA instrument. These results support the earlier conclusion of Simpson et al . that breakup of conglomerates of dust particles is an important phenomenon both within and beyond the coma envelope.


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    Title :

    Confirmation of dust clusters in the coma of Comet Halley


    Contributors:

    Published in:

    Publication date :

    1989-01-01


    Size :

    4 pages




    Type of media :

    Article (Journal)


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



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