Title: The Encounter of the Parker Solar Probe and a Comet-like Object Near the Sun: Model Predictions and Measurements

Abstract

The Parker Solar Probe (PSP) aims to explore the nascent solar wind close to the Sun. Meanwhile, PSP is also expected to encounter small objects like comets and asteroids. Here, we survey the ephemerides to find the chance of a recent encounter and then model the interaction between released dusty plasmas and solar wind plasmas. On 2019 September 2, a comet-like object, the 322P/Solar and Heliosphere Observatory, just passed its perihelion flying to a heliocentric distance of 0.12 au and swept by PSP at a relative distance as close as 0.025 au. We present the dynamics of the dust particles released from 322P, forming a curved dust tail. Along the path of PSP in the simulated inner heliosphere, the states of plasma and magnetic field are sampled and illustrated, with the magnetic field sequences from simulation results being compared directly with the in situ measurements from PSP. Through the comparison, we suggest that 322P might be at a deficient activity level releasing limited dusty plasmas on its way to becoming a "rock comet." We also present images of solar wind streamers as recorded by the Wide-field Imager for Solar Probe Plus, showing an indication of dust bombardment for the imagesmore » superposed with messy trails. We observe from the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph that 322P was transiting from a dimming region to a relatively bright streamer during its perihelion passage, and perform a simulation to confirm that 322P was flying from relatively faster to slower solar wind streams, modifying the local plasma states of the streams.« less

Authors:

He, Jiansen  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "He, Jiansen"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-8179-417X"

Cui, Bo  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Cui, Bo"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-2604-8865"

Yang, Liping  ^[2];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Yang, Liping"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-4716-2958"

Hou, Chuanpeng  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Hou, Chuanpeng"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0001-7205-2449"

Zhang, Lei  ^[2];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Zhang, Lei"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-2562-0698"

Ip, Wing-Huen  ^[3];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Ip, Wing-Huen"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-3140-5014"

Jia, Ying-Dong  ^[4];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Jia, Ying-Dong"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-1631-291X"

Dong, Chuanfei  ^[5];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Dong, Chuanfei"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-8990-094X"

Duan, Die  ^[6];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Duan, Die"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-6300-6800"

Zong, Qiugang  ^[1];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Zong, Qiugang"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-6414-3794"

Bale, Stuart D.  ^[7];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Bale, Stuart D."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-1989-3596"

Pulupa, Marc  ^[8];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Pulupa, Marc"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-1573-7457"

Bonnell, John W.  ^[8];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Bonnell, John W."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-0675-7907"

Dudok De Wit, Thierry  ^[9];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Dudok De Wit, Thierry"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-4401-0943"

Goetz, Keith  ^[10];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Goetz, Keith"
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-0420-3633"

Harvey, Peter R.  ^[8];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Harvey, Peter R."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0002-6938-0166"

MacDowall, Robert J.  ^[11];

• Search DOE PAGES for author "MacDowall, Robert J."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-3112-4201"

Malaspina, David M.  ^[12]

• Search DOE PAGES for author "Malaspina, David M."
• Search DOE PAGES for ORCID "0000-0003-1191-1558"

---

+ Show Author Affiliations

1. Peking Univ., Beijing (China)
2. Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Beijing (China). National Space Science Center
3. National Central Univ., Taoyuan (Taiwan)
4. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
5. Princeton Univ., NJ (United States); Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)
6. Peking Univ., Beijing (China); Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
7. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States); Imperial College, London (United Kingdom); Queen Mary Univ. of London (United Kingdom)
8. Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
9. Univ. of Orléans (France)
10. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
11. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD (United States)
12. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)

Publication Date:

Mon Mar 22 00:00:00 EDT 2021

Research Org.:

Princeton Plasma Physics Lab. (PPPL), Princeton, NJ (United States)

Sponsoring Org.:

USDOE; National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); China National Space Administration (CNSA); National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

OSTI Identifier:

1815382

Grant/Contract Number:  

AC02-09CH11466; 41874200; 41421003; 41674171; D020301; D020302; 41774157; 41731067; 41874202; NNN06AA01C

Resource Type:

Accepted Manuscript

Journal Name:

The Astrophysical Journal

Additional Journal Information:

Journal Volume: 910; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 0004-637X

Publisher:

IOP Publishing

Country of Publication:

United States

Language:

English

Subject:

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS; minor planets; asteroids; comets; sun; solar wind; comet tails; interplanetary dust