Rosetta photoelectron emission and solar ultraviolet flux at comet 67PShow others and affiliations
2017 (English)In: Monthly notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, ISSN 0035-8711, E-ISSN 1365-2966, Vol. 469, p. S626-S635Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
The Langmuir Probe instrument on Rosetta monitored the photoelectron emission current of the probes during the Rosetta mission at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, in essence acting as a photodiode monitoring the solar ultraviolet radiation at wavelengths below 250 nm. We have used three methods of extracting the photoelectron saturation current from the Langmuir probe measurements. The resulting data set can be used as an index of the solar far and extreme ultraviolet at the Rosetta spacecraft position, including flares, in wavelengths which are important for photoionization of the cometary neutral gas. Comparing the photoemission current to data measurements by MAVEN/EUVM and TIMED/SEE, we find good correlation when 67P was at large heliocentric distances early and late in the mission, but up to 50 per cent decrease of the expected photoelectron current at perihelion. We discuss possible reasons for the photoemission decrease, including scattering and absorption by nanograins created by disintegration of cometary dust far away from the nucleus.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Oxford University Press (OUP) , 2017. Vol. 469, p. S626-S635
Keywords [en]
plasmas, methods: data analysis, Sun: UV radiation, comets: individual: 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, dust, extinction
National Category
Astronomy, Astrophysics and Cosmology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:kth:diva-273855DOI: 10.1093/mnras/stx2369ISI: 000443940500056OAI: oai:DiVA.org:kth-273855DiVA, id: diva2:1433666
Conference
International Conference on Cometary Science - Comets - A New Vision after Rosetta and Philae, NOV 14-18, 2016, Toulouse, FRANCE
Note
QC 20200624
2020-06-012020-06-012024-01-18Bibliographically approved