Comet Siding Spring's influence on Mars' ionosphere at its closest approach
Résumé
On October 19th 2014, Mars experienced a close encounter with Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring), at a distance of 141,000 km. The coma washed over Mars and the planet passed directly through the cometary debris stream, producing significant effects in Mars' upper atmosphere. We present here an overview of ionospheric measurements performed during the 10h that Mars was in the coma from the MARSIS radar on board Mars Express. We discuss the comet's influence on the ionosphere through different processes like dust attachment, water molecule recombination, and cometary magnetic field.
Domaines
Planète et Univers [physics]Origine | Fichiers produits par l'(les) auteur(s) |
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