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[16.02] Modeling Comet 19P/Borrelly for the Deep Space 1 Encounter

D.C. Boice (Southwest Research Institute)

The Deep Space 1 Mission successfully encountered comet 19P/Borrelly in September 2001. To further understanding of the basic properties of the cometary environment, a comet coma model has been prepared for 19P/Borrelly that consistently represents the dusty cometary environment from the irregularly shaped nucleus surface to the solar wind interaction region. This model includes fluid dynamics with detailed photo and gas-phase chemisty, dust entrainment by the gas with fragmentation and distributed gaseous sources, separate energy balance for electrons, ions, and neutrals, and separate flow of the neutral gas, plasma, and fast atomic and molecular hydrogen. Neutral gas and plasma dynamics and spatial distributions of various cometary species are presented and compared to Earth-based observations and in situ measurements appropriate for the Deep Space 1 encounter.

We wish to acknowledge funding from NASA for the Science Team activities in support of the Deep Space 1 Mission.

If the author provided an email address or URL for general inquiries, it is as follows:

Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 34, #3< br> © 2002. The American Astronomical Soceity.