Abstract As a result of the visibility imparted by fluorescing ions (mostly CO+ and H2O+), cometary plasma tails are the variety of magnetotails whose large-scale structure and temporal variations can be studied from a single observation, or pair of observations, respectively; the type of data is wide-field (≥ 5°) imagery. When concurrent solar-wind and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) data are available (near-Earth, interplanetary, or-- preferably--near-comet), the opportunity exists for studying the large-scale comet/solar-wind interaction. The purposes of the present paper are to review, briefly, some of the principal results which existed before the present apparition of Halley's Comet, but mostly to present initial findings based on the Halley imaging data returned by the Large-Scale Phenomena Network of the International Halley Watch. Most of the latter discussion will concentrate on Disconnection Events (DE's) and the overall interaction of bright comets with the IMF. The importance of correlative studies utilizing remote imaging and the near-comet solar wind/IMF data returned by the Halley Armada spacecraft is particularly stressed. An exciting initial result is that the cometary magnetic barriers observed by VEGA-1 and VEGA-2 had opposite magnetic polarities, in agreement with the frontside magnetic reconnection model of DE's /1/ and with the fact that a major DE took place on 8 March 1986, between the VEGA-1 and VEGA-2 encounters.
Dynamics of cometary plasma tails
Advances in Space Research ; 6 , 1 ; 315-327
1986-01-01
13 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Dynamics of cometary plasma tails
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