Electron and Ion Dynamics of the Solar Wind Interaction with a Weakly Outgassing Comet

Phys Rev Lett. 2017 May 19;118(20):205101. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.118.205101. Epub 2017 May 15.

Abstract

Using a 3D fully kinetic approach, we disentangle and explain the ion and electron dynamics of the solar wind interaction with a weakly outgassing comet. We show that, to first order, the dynamical interaction is representative of a four-fluid coupled system. We self-consistently simulate and identify the origin of the warm and suprathermal electron distributions observed by ESA's Rosetta mission to comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and conclude that a detailed kinetic treatment of the electron dynamics is critical to fully capture the complex physics of mass-loading plasmas.