Abstract
The SP-1 detectors aboard the Vega 1 and Vega 2 spacecraft measured the spectral and spatial distributions of dust grains, with the aim of investigating the dust release process and other properties of the comet nucleus1–3. The dust particle mass spectra do not exhibit the expected low-mass cutoff4 at 10−14 g; instead, they continue to rise to ∼10−16 g. The apex of the dust paraboloid resulting from scattering of sunlight is estimated to lie at a distance of 40–45×103 km from the nucleus, although there is a small number density of particles well beyond this boundary. Particles of mass 10−12–10−14 g are relatively depleted at large distances from the nucleus, due to stronger light scattering by these particles. Strong inhomogeneity of the dust number density suggests the existence of a sunward-pointing cone of enhanced dust emission, of width 70–80°. The spatial dispersion of a narrow dust jet has been used to estimate the sense and period of rotation of the nucleus and the approximate azimuthal location of the jet source, as well as the mass-dependent velocity dispersion of the dust particles.
Enjoying our latest content?
Log in or create an account to continue
- Access the most recent journalism from Nature's award-winning team
- Explore the latest features & opinion covering groundbreaking research
or
References
Whipple, F. L. in Cosmic Dust (ed. McDonnell, J. A. M.) 1–73 (Wiley, New York, 1978).
Larson, S. M. & Sekanina, Z. Astr. J. 89, 571–578 (1984).
Sekanina, Z. & Larson, S. M. Astr. J. 89, 1408–1425 (1984).
Divine, N. Eur. Space Ag. spec. Publ. 174, 25 (1981).
McDonnell, J. A. M. in Cosmic Dust (ed. McDonnell, J. A. M.) 337–426 (Wiley, New York, 1978).
Grün, E., Bussoletti, E., Minata, A., Kuczera, H. & McDonnell, J. A. M. Adv. Space Res. 4, 291–295 (1984).
Gorn, L. S., Vaisberg, O. L., Iovlev, M. V., Shifrin, A. V. & Smirnov, V. N. in Problems of Nuclear Science and Techniques (Atomizdat, Moscow, in the press).
Sagdeev, R. Z., Anisimov, S. I., Galeev, A. A., Shapiro, V. D. & Shevchenko, V. I. Adv. Space Res. 2, 133–143 (1983).
Sagdeev, R. Z. et al. Nature 321, 262–266 (1986).
Probstein, R. F. in Problems of Hydrodynamics and Continuum Mechanics (eds Bisshopp, F. et al.) 568–583 (Soc. Ind. appl. Math., Philadelphia, 1969).
Gombosi, T. I. et al. in Cometary Exploration Vol. 2 (ed. Gombosi, T. I.) 99–112 (Central Research Institute of Physics, Budapest, 1983).
Larson, S. M. & Sekanina, Z. Astr. J. 90, 823–826; 917–923 (1985).
Divine, N. et al. Jet Propulsion Lab. Preprint No. D-2829 (1985).
Burns, J. A., Lamy, P. A. & Soter, S. Icarus 40, 1–48 (1979).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Vaisberg, O., Smirnov, V., Gorn, L. et al. Dust coma structure of comet Halley from SP-1 detector measurements. Nature 321 (Suppl 6067), 274–276 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/321274a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/321274a0
This article is cited by
-
Nonlinear scattering of Alfvén waves off low-frequency dust modes in a magnetized dusty plasma
Il Nuovo Cimento D (1998)
-
Comets
The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review (1993)
