Are the sungrazing comets the inner source of pickup ions and energetic neutral atoms?

Bzowski, M.; Królikowska, Małgorzata

doi:10.1051/0004-6361:20041169

Cited by 17 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…The presence of these objects may also have a significant effect on the heliosphere itself: dust and gas released near the Sun seed the interplanetary dust population and may be the origin of at least some portion of the "inner source" pickup ions observed in the solar wind farther from the Sun (Bzowski and Królikowska 2005). The value of understanding these objects is clear.…”

Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Chochol et al (1983) reported the possible detection of visible wavelength emission lines from sublimating dust grains following the perihelion passage of C/1979 Q1 (SOLWIND). The ionised products of the dust will be carried outwards from the Sun by the solar wind, and may provide much of the inner source of pickup ions observed further from the Sun (Bzowski and Królikowska 2005;Mann 2010). The ions that are released from sublimating dust in the corona quickly reach higher charge states, the charge state depending on the release distance from Sun (Mann and Czechowski 2005).…”

Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The Science of Sungrazers, Sunskirters, and Other Near-Sun Comets

et al. 2017

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This review addresses our current understanding of comets that venture close to the Sun, and are hence exposed to much more extreme conditions than comets that are typically studied from Earth. The extreme solar heating and plasma environments that these objects encounter change many aspects of their behaviour, thus yielding valuable information on both the comets themselves that complements other data we have on primitive solar system bodies, as well as on the near-solar environment which they traverse. We propose clear definitions for these comets: We use the term near-Sun comets to encompass all ob- jects that pass sunward of the perihelion distance of planet Mercury (0.307 AU). Sunskirters are defined as objects that pass within 33 solar radii of the Sun's centre, equal to half of Mercury's perihelion distance, and the commonly-used phrase sungrazers to be objects that reach perihelion within 3.45 solar radii, i.e. the fluid Roche limit. Finally, comets with orbits that intersect the solar photosphere are termed sundivers. We summarize past studies of these objects, as well as the instruments and facilities used to study them, including space-based platforms that have led to a recent revolution in the quantity and quality of relevant observations. Relevant comet populations are described, including the Kreutz, Marsden, Kracht, and Meyer groups, near-Sun asteroids, and a brief discussion of their origins. The importance of light curves and the clues they provide on cometary composition are emphasized, together with what information has been gleaned about nucleus parameters, including the sizes and masses of objects and their families, and their tensile strengths. The physical processes occurring at these objects are considered in some detail, including the disruption of nuclei, sublimation, and ionisation, and we consider the mass, momentum, and energy loss of comets in the corona and those that venture to lower altitudes. The different components of comae and tails are described, including dust, neutral and ionised gases, their chemical reactions, and their contributions to the near-Sun environment. Comet-solar wind interactions are discussed, including the use of comets as probes of solar wind and coronal conditions in their vicinities. We address the relevance of work on comets near the Sun to similar objects orbiting other stars, and conclude with a discussion of future directions for the field and the planned ground-and space-based facilities that will allow us to address those science topics.

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Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Science of Sungrazers, Sunskirters, and Other Near-Sun Comets

et al. 2017

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“…However, situations favorable for the production and observation of the 6.13 MeV line may occur with passages of the Kreutz Sun-grazing comets Bzowski & Krolikowska 2005). Those comets produce locally enhanced dust densities and increased target 16 O abundances, probably by fragmentation and sublimation (Sekanina 2003), during the $2 day period in which they orbit sunward in the 40Y4 R region Bzowski & Krolikowska 2005).…”

Section: à3mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The grain composition of Sun-grazing comets, which supply dust to the 0.1 AU region, is assumed rich in olivine and pyroxene ( Kimura et al 2002;Bemporad et al 2005;Bzowski & Krolikowska 2005), with the formulas (X,Y) 2 SiO 4 and XYSi 2 O 6 , respectively, where X and Y represent various metallic elements. If half the mass of the dust consists of O, then the O density at 0.1 AU is 6 ; (10 À3 Y10 À2 ) cm…”

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confidence: 99%

Remote Sensing of Gamma‐Ray Emission from Solar Energetic Proton Interactions with the Solar Wind

Kahler¹,

Ragot²

2008

ApJ

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The properties of solar energetic particles (SEPs) in solar flares are studied through remote imaging in the radio, hard X-ray, and -ray energy ranges. However, the heliospheric SEP populations are observed only in situ by satellite measurements, which drastically limits our understanding of their spatial and temporal variations. Can those SEP populations be remotely imaged, as are the solar SEPs? We consider two possibilities for detecting faint -ray emission from SEP interactions with solar wind (SW) ions. First, the 6.13 and 4.44 MeV -ray lines of 16 O and 12 C, respectively, produced by the interactions of the SEPs from a large low-energy (E < 30 MeV) gradual event are calculated and found to be far below a detectable level. Then the expected 0 -decay -ray emission is calculated for the intense ground-level event (GLE) of 2005 January 20 and compared with (1) the observed Galactic and extragalactic background and (2) the expected near-solar emission from inverse-Compton scattering of solar photons by cosmic-ray electrons and from Galactic cosmic-ray collisions with the solar atmosphere. It appears feasible to detect the 0 -decay emission from that event with a detector of the size of the Large Area Telescope on GLAST. Earlier 1982 and 1991 flare observations of long-duration (hours) 0 -decays were attributed to E > 300 MeV protons captured in strong coronal loops, but we suggest that the observed emission was due to SEP-SW collisions following shock acceleration on open field lines.

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“…However, this last characteristic depends on assumptions about the nature of the inner source, for which various scenarios have been proposed (Gloeckler et al 2000;Schwadron et al 2000;Wimmer-Schweingruber & Bochsler 2003;Bzowski & Krolikowska 2005;Mann & Czechowski 2005). All settings assume that dust is important for generating the inner-source pickup ions, but so far none agrees with all observational constraints (Allegrini et al 2005).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short-term variability of inner-source pickup ions at 1 AU

Berger

Drews

Taut

et al. 2015

A&A

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Context. In 1995 a second extended source of pickup ions in the inner heliosphere was discovered. Since then this so-called inner source has been characterised in many studies, and various scenarios for its nature have been proposed. But to this day, the detailed nature of the inner source is still unknown. Aims. Although it seems most likely that an interaction of solar wind and dust plays a key role in the production of the inner source pickup ions, available observations have not provided conclusive evidence for any proposed scenario. By analysing the short-term variability of the inner source, we determine a new observational constraint to address the nature of the inner source. Methods. We used the data set of the charge time-of-flight instrument that operated in 1996 on-board the solar and heliospheric observatory at the first Lagrangian point to analyse inner source O + and C + . The unmatched combination of mass per charge resolution, which is sufficient to definitely resolve O + and C + , and typical high count rates of about 150 counts per day allowed us to address the short-term variability of the inner source for the first time.Results. The comparison of the variability of inner-source and solar-wind ions shows that the flux of inner source pickup oxygen and carbon is directly correlated with the flux of solar wind oxygen, and carbon, respectively. Conclusions. Among the scenarios for the nature of the inner source alone, the scenario of solar-wind neutralisation agrees with this new observational constraint.

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Are the sungrazing comets the inner source of pickup ions and energetic neutral atoms?

Abstract: Abstract. We present arguments that at least part of the inner source of pickup ions in the solar wind might be the material released by sungrazing comets. Based on a statistical analysis of sungrazing comets detected over almost eight years of LASCO operation

Cited by 17 publications

References 47 publications

The Science of Sungrazers, Sunskirters, and Other Near-Sun Comets

The Science of Sungrazers, Sunskirters, and Other Near-Sun Comets

Remote Sensing of Gamma‐Ray Emission from Solar Energetic Proton Interactions with the Solar Wind

Short-term variability of inner-source pickup ions at 1 AU

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