#TAILS OF IRON MAP CODE#
In this paper, we describe the Monte Carlo code along with some successful applications of such technique to a number of targets.Įxocomets are small bodies releasing gas and dust which orbit stars other than the Sun. Monte Carlo models, based on the computer simulation of the Keplerian trajectories of a large set of dust particles, provide the best possible approach to extract the dust environment parameters from the observed scattered solar light or thermal emission. At a given observation time, the position of those particles projected on the sky plane form the coma, tail and trail structures that can be observed from ground-based or space-borne instrumentation. Their motion is then a function of their so-called β parameter, which is the ratio of the radiation pressure force to gravity force, and their velocity when the gas drag vanishes. From distances of about 20 nuclear radii outwards, the particles decouple from the accelerating gas and are mainly affected by solar gravity and radiation pressure for small-sized nuclei. This allows for the combination of various data sets and the removal of transient motion and scaling effectsĭust particles leaving the comet nucleus surface are entrained by the gas within the first few nuclear radius distances and are subjected to a complex hydrodynamical environment. To enable this analysis, we have developed a new technique ? temporal mapping ? that displays cometary dust tails directly in the radiation beta (ratio of radiation pressure to gravity) and dust ejection time phase space. The nature of this interaction also implies a mixing of different sized dust along the striae, implying that fragmentation must be continuous or cascading. This includes a period of morphological change on 2007 January 13-14 that we attribute to Lorentz forces caused by the comet?s dust tail crossing the heliospheric current sheet. Using the SOHO data with STEREO-A and B data from the HI-1 and HI-2 instruments, we display the evolution of these striae for two weeks, with a temporal resolution of two hours or better.
The nature of this formation suggests both fragmentation and shadowing effects are important in the formation process. For the first time we directly display the formation of striae, at C/2006 P1 McNaught, using data from the SOHO LASCO C3 coronagraph.
Striated features, or striae, form in cometary dust tails due to an as-yet unconstrained process or processes.
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