Effects of the convective field on weakly outgassing comets

Abstract

By applying a kinetic approach, we have developed two models in order to assess the influence of one main driver of plasma acceleration, the convective electric field, on the cometary ion distribution at 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G). This electric field is carried by the solar wind and corresponds to the acceleration undergone by cometary ions ultimately picked up. We have quantified its contribution on ion number density and mean velocity profiles, supported by an intercomparison with the recent literature. We found that the ion number density should reflect a departure from the observed ∼1/r law. We discuss reasons for this discrepancy.