arXiv subjects

Philippe Lamy

Publications and source records attributed to Philippe Lamy.

22 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2013

Characterizing the Dust Coma of Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) at 4.15 AU from the Sun

We report results from broadband visible images of comet C/2012 S1 (ISON) obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field Camera 3 on 2013 April 10. C/ISON's coma brightness follows a 1/ρ (where ρ is the projected distance from the nucleus) profile out to 5000 km, consistent with a constant speed dust outflow model. The turnaround distance in the sunward direction suggests that the dust coma is composed of sub-micron-sized particles emitted at speeds of tens of meters s$^{-1}$. A(θ)fρ, which is commonly used to characterize the dust production rate, was 1340 and 1240 cm in the F606W and F438W filters, respectively, in apertures <1.6" in radius. The dust colors are slightly redder than solar, with a slope of 5.0$\pm$0.2% per 100 nm, increasing to >10% per 100 nm 10,000 km down the tail. The colors are similar to those of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) and other long-period comets, but somewhat bluer than typical values for short-period comets. The spatial color variations are also reminiscent of C/Hale-Bopp. A sunward jet is visible in enhanced images, curving to the north and then tailward in the outer coma. The 1.6"-long jet is centered at a position angle of 291$^\circ$, with an opening angle of about 45$^\circ$. The jet morphology remains unchanged over 19 hours of our observations, suggesting that it is near the rotational pole of the nucleus, and implying that the pole points to within 30 deg of (RA, Dec) = (330$^\circ$, 0$^\circ$). This pole orientation indicates a high obliquity of 50$^\circ$-80$^\circ$.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2011

The evolution of plasma parameters on a coronal source surface at 2.3 Rs during solar minimum

We analyze data from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory to produce global maps of coronal outflow velocities and densities in the regions where the solar wind is undergoing acceleration. The maps use UV and white light coronal data obtained from the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer and the Large Angle Spectroscopic Coronagraph, respectively, and a Doppler dimming analysis to determine the mean outflow velocities. The outflow velocities are defined on a sphere at 2.3 Rs from Sun-center and are organized by Carrington Rotations during the solar minimum period at the start of solar cycle 23. We use the outflow velocity and density maps to show that while the solar minimum corona is relatively stable during its early stages, the shrinkage of the north polar hole in the later stages leads to changes in both the global areal expansion of the coronal hole and the derived internal flux tube expansion factors of the solar wind. The polar hole areal expansion factor and the flux tube expansion factors (between the coronal base and 2.3 Rs) start out as super-radial but then they become more nearly radial as the corona progresses away from solar minimum. The results also support the idea that the largest flux tube expansion factors are located near the coronal hole/streamer interface, at least during the deepest part of the solar minimum period.

astro-ph.SR↗

arXiv2010

A collision in 2009 as the origin of the debris trail of asteroid P/2010 A2

The peculiar object P/2010 A2 was discovered by the LINEAR near-Earth asteroid survey in January 2010 and given a cometary designation due to the presence of a trail of material, although there was no central condensation or coma. The appearance of this object, in an asteroidal orbit (small eccentricity and inclination) in the inner main asteroid belt attracted attention as a potential new member of the recently recognized class of 'Main Belt Comets' (MBCs). If confirmed, this new object would greatly expand the range in heliocentric distance over which MBCs are found. Here we present observations taken from the unique viewing geometry provided by ESA's Rosetta spacecraft, far from the Earth, that demonstrate that the trail is due to a single event rather than a period of cometary activity, in agreement with independent results from the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The trail is made up of relatively large particles of millimetre to centimetre size that remain close to the parent asteroid. The shape of the trail can be explained by an initial impact ejecting large clumps of debris that disintegrated and dispersed almost immediately. We determine that this was an asteroid collision that occurred around February 10, 2009.

astro-ph.EP↗

arXiv2010

The solar wind as seen by SOHO/SWAN since 1996: comparison with SOHO/LASCO C2 coronal densities

We update the SOHO/SWAN H Lyman-alpha brightness analysis to cover the 1996-2008 time interval. A forward model applied to the intensity maps provides the latitude and time dependence of the interstellar Hydrogen ionisation rate over more than a full solar cycle. The hydrogen ionisation, being almost entirely due to charge-exchange with solar wind ions, reflects closely the solar wind flux. Our results show that the solar wind latitudinal structure during the present solar minimum is strikingly different from the previous minimum, with a much wider slow solar wind equatorial belt which persists until at least the end of 2008. We compute absolute values of the in-ecliptic H ionisation rates using OMNI solar wind data and use them to calibrate our ionisation rates at all heliographic latitudes. We then compare the resulting fluxes with the synoptic LASCO/C2 electron densities at 6 solar radii. The two time-latitude patterns are strikingly similar over all the cycle. This comparison shows that densities at 6 solar radii can be used to infer the solar wind type close to its source, with high (resp. low) densities tracing the slow (resp. fast) solar wind, simply because the density reflects at which altitude occurs the acceleration. The comparison between the two minima suggests that the fast polar wind acceleration occurs at larger distance during the current minimum compared to the previous one. This difference, potentially linked to the magnetic field decrease or(and) the coronal temperature decrease should be reproduced by solar wind expansion models.

astro-ph.SR↗