Note on the solar wind-induced drag on comets |
| |
| Authors: | Douglas E Gonzales |
| |
| Institution: | (1) Space Disturbances Laboratory, ESSA Research Laboratories, Boulder, Colo., U.S.A. |
| |
| Abstract: | The solar wind-induced drag on magnetically large comets is estimated as follows. As the comet approaches the sun, solar radiation striking the comet surface generates a surrounding neutral atmosphere which is subsequently ionized. The resulting plasma cloud interacts with the solar wind to produce a comet magnetosphere and associated collision-free shock wave. An approximation to the accompanying drag is obtained using the similarity between the comet magnetosphere and that of the earth, and is shown to be much less than the mechanical mass loss force. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
| 本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录！ |
|
