VI: FUTURE CONCEPTS: Attitude and Drag Control: An Application to the GOCE Satellite

The Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite, currently planned to he launched in the course of 2006, will require a precise drag compensation and a fine attitude control along the Local Orbiting Reference Frame (LORF) of a polar Sun-synchronous low orbit, allowing the Earth gravity field to be recovered with unprecedented accuracy by post-processing the scientific telemetry. To this aim, the spectral density of the spacecraft linear and angular accelerations must be limited below 0.025 respectively, in the frequency range from 5 mHz to 0.1 Hz, the gradiometer measurement bandwidth. In the same range, the orientation errors of the spacecraft in the LORF and of the LORF in the inertial frame must be kept below 10 . The Drag-Free Mode, encharged of drag-free and attitude control (DFAC) during measurement phases, determines the spacecraft state vector using a very precise gradiometer, one large Field-of-View Star Tracker and a Satellite-to-Satellite Tracking Instrument. Force and torque commands are actuated by two assemblies of thrusters: a single ion-thruster acting along the orbital direction, a set of eight micro-thrusters acting along the other five degrees of freedom. To cover every mission scenario, other control modes have been studied and designed: the Coarse Pointing Mode dedicated to rate damping and Sun acquisition, the Fine Pointing Mode handling the transition to Drag-Free Mode and the Ultimate Safe Mode, a survival operative mode to improve mission reliability. Results presented in this paper give a positive perspective on the solidity of the current DFAC design. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Particle acceleration by magnetic reconnection and shocks during current loop coalescence in solar flares

This article reviews recent development of the theory of current loop coalescence and shock waves, giving particular attention to particle acceleration caused by these processes. First, explosive reconnection driven by the current loop coalescence and associated particle acceleration are studied by theoretical and magnetohydrodynamic simulation methods and the results are compared with observations of solar flares; this model gives a good explanation for the quasi-periodic structure of some solar flare bursts. Next follows a discussion of particle acceleration in association with fast magnetosonic shock waves. It is shown theoretically and by relativistic particle simulation that a quasi-perpendicular shock wave can accelerate trapped ions in the direction perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field up to speeds much greater than the Alfvén speed, . When the ambient magnetic field is rather strong ( _{ce pe} ), both ions and electrons can be accelerated to relativistic energies. For both the nonrelativistic and relativistic cases, the time needed for the acceleration is very short; it is for the ions. These results are compared with the rapid and simultaneous acceleration of ions and electrons in the impulsive phase of solar flares.     

The Effects of Transverse Magnetic Field and Density Variations on the Particle Energy Spectra in a Reconnecting 3D Current Sheet

Electron and proton acceleration by a super-Dreicer electric field is further investigated in a non-neutral reconnecting current sheet (RCS) with a variable plasma density. The tangential B _z and transverse magnetic field components B _x are assumed to vary with the distances x and z from the X nullpoint linearly and exponentially, respectively; the longitudinal component (a ‘guiding field’) is accepted constant. Particles are found to gain a bulk of their energy in a thin region close to the X nullpoint where the RCS density increases with z exponentially with the index λ and the tangential magnetic field B _x also increases with z exponentially with the index α. For the RCS with a constant density (λ = 0), the variations of the tangential magnetic field lead to particle power-law energy spectra with the spectral indices γ₁ being dependent on the exponent α as: for protons and for electrons in a strong guiding field (β > 10⁻²) and for electrons in a moderate or weak guiding field (β > 10⁻⁴). For the RCS with an exponential density increase in the vicinity of the X nullpoint (λ≥ 0) there is a further increase of the resulting spectral indices γ that depends on the density exponent index λ as for protons and for electrons in weaker guiding fields and as for electrons in stronger guiding fields. These dependencies can explain a wide variety (1.5–10) of particle spectral indices observed in solar flares by the variations of a magnetic field topology and physical conditions in a reconnecting region. This can be used as a diagnostic tool for the investigation of the RCS dynamics from the accelerated particle spectra found from hard X-ray and microwave emission.     

Baryons in the diffuse intergalactic medium

The baryon density of the universe _B is well measured indirectly from Big-Bang nucleo-synthesis, in particular by recent measurements of the D/H ratio in high-redshift QSO absorption systems. In addition, very recent measurements of the second maximum of the power-spectrum of the CMB fine scale anisotropy allow to constrain _B at z1000. Both results agree and yield _B=0.02h ^–2. Direct measurements of the diffuse baryonic component (intergalactic gas) at redshifts z=3 and 1.5 and in the local universe are reviewed and shown to be much more difficult. Available observations are consistent with the hypothesis that at z=3 and possibly still at z=1.5 nearly all baryons are located in the highly ionized L forest component, while at later epochs the contribution of a low-density, shock-heated component (10⁵–10⁷ K), the so called warm-hot intergalactic medium (WHIM), occupies with decreasing redshift an increasing fraction of all baryons. Methods to detect this component and the difficulty to make quantitative estimates are described. In the local universe of all baryons may be hidden in the WHIM. Yet at z=1.5, this component contains at least a factor of 5 less material.     

Simulated observations of the electron coronal density irregularity\overline {n^2 } /(\bar n)^2

A technique to derive the coronal density irregularity factor , wheren is the electron density, has been proposed by Fineschi and Romoli (1993). This technique will exploit the unique UVCS capability of cotemporal and cospatial measurements of both UV line radiation and K-coronal polarized brightness,pB.The ratio of the measured H I Lyman (Ly-) line intensity to the resonant-scattering dominated H I Lyman (Ly-) intensity can be used to extract the collisional component of the Ly-. This component yields an estimate of . The quantity is then obtained from the UVCS white-light K-coronal measurements.We present simulated observations of the UVCS for coronal atmosphere models with different filling factors and electron density profiles, and for different coronal structures (e.g., coronal holes, streamers). These simulations will show how the proposed technique may be used to probe inhomogeneities of the solar corona.     

Electron coronal density irregularity\overline {n^2 } /(\bar n)^2 from measurements of K-coronal and lyman lines brightnesses

We propose a technique to derive the coronal density irregularity factor , wheren is the electron density. The absolute photometric comparison between the intensity of UV lines and the white-light K-coronal polarized brightness (pB) provides an unique constraint on the inhomogeneity of the corona. The ratio of the measured H I Lyman (Ly-) line intensity to the resonant-scattering dominated H I Lyman (Ly-) intensity can be used to extract the collisonal component of the Ly-. This component yields an estimate of . The quantity is then obtained from white-light K-coronal measurements. The use of lines of the same atomic species minimizes the effects due to outflow velocities (i.e., Doppler dimming), and reduces the errors introduced by the uncertainties in the ionization balance, the atomic parameters, and the solar abundances. The UVCS/SOHO unique capability of performing cotemporal and cospatial measurements of the Ly- and Ly- lines, and ofpB makes this instrument ideal for implementing this technique.     

Design and Performance of the ICON EUV Spectrograph

We present the design, implementation, and on-ground performance measurements of the Ionospheric Connection Explorer EUV spectrometer, ICON EUV, a wide field (\(17^{\circ}\times 12^{\circ}\)) extreme ultraviolet (EUV) imaging spectrograph designed to observe the lower ionosphere at tangent altitudes between 100 and 500 km. The primary targets of the spectrometer, which has a spectral range of 54–88 nm, are the Oii emission lines at 61.6 nm and 83.4 nm. Its design, using a single optical element, permits a $0\stackrel{{}^{°}}{.}26$ imaging resolution perpendicular to the spectral dispersion direction with a large (\(12^{\circ} \)) acceptance parallel to the dispersion direction while providing a slit-width dominated spectral resolution of \(R\sim25\) at 58.4 nm. Pre-flight calibration shows that the instrument has met all of the science performance requirements.     

Dissipation of magnetic fields in active galactic nuclei

A model for the emission processes causing rapid variability (less than one day) in active galactic nuclei is developed. Relativistic electron beams escape from reconnection sheets in coronae of accretion disks and excite plasma turbulence with a typical frequency , which depends on the electron number densityn (see also the contribution by R. van Oss). The finite lengths of different beams emerging from different reconnection sheets allows that the waves arecoherently scattered to frequencies ²_pe. For Lorentz factors 10³ and densities typical for disk coronaen10⁶ cm ^–3 (derived from iron line observations) one easily reaches the optical, frequency range. The time scale of the variability is then caused by the relaxation of the electron beams. Likewise, this model explains the very rapid variability in the X-ray (less than 10 minutes) by changing the parameters slightly. According to this scenario the higher the variable frequency is, the closer to the central black hole it should originate.     

The Solar System d/h Ratio: Observations and Theories

The measured D/H ratios in interstellar environments and in the solar system are reviewed. The two extreme D/H ratios in solar system water - (720±120)×10⁻⁶ in clay minerals and (88±11)×10⁻⁶ in chondrules, both from LL3 chondritic meteorites - are interpreted as the result of a progressive isotopic exchange in the solar nebula between deuterium-rich interstellar water and protosolar H₂. According to a turbulent model describing the evolution of the nebula (Drouart et al., 1999), water in the solar system cannot be a product of thermal (neutral) reactions occurring in the solar nebula. Taking 720×10⁻⁶ as a face value for the isotopic composition of the interstellar water that predates the formation of the solar nebula, numerical simulations show that the water D/H ratio decreases via an isotopic exchange with H₂. During the course of this process, a D/H gradient was established in the nebula. This gradient was smoothed with time and the isotopic homogenization of the solar nebula was completed in 10⁶ years, reaching a D/H ratio of 88×10⁻⁶. In this model, cometary water should have also suffered a partial isotopic re-equilibration with H₂. The isotopic heterogeneity observed in chondrites result from the turbulent mixing of grains, condensed at different epochs and locations in the solar nebula. Recent isotopic determinations of water ice in cold interstellar clouds are in agreement with these chondritic data and their interpretation (Texeira et al., 1999). This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Atmosphere Impact Losses

Determining the origin of volatiles on terrestrial planets and quantifying atmospheric loss during planet formation is crucial for understanding the history and evolution of planetary atmospheres. Using geochemical observations of noble gases and major volatiles we determine what the present day inventory of volatiles tells us about the sources, the accretion process and the early differentiation of the Earth. We further quantify the key volatile loss mechanisms and the atmospheric loss history during Earth’s formation. Volatiles were accreted throughout the Earth’s formation, but Earth’s early accretion history was volatile poor. Although nebular Ne and possible H in the deep mantle might be a fingerprint of this early accretion, most of the mantle does not remember this signature implying that volatile loss occurred during accretion. Present day geochemistry of volatiles shows no evidence of hydrodynamic escape as the isotopic compositions of most volatiles are chondritic. This suggests that atmospheric loss generated by impacts played a major role during Earth’s formation. While many of the volatiles have chondritic isotopic ratios, their relative abundances are certainly not chondritic again suggesting volatile loss tied to impacts. Geochemical evidence of atmospheric loss comes from the \({}^{3}\mathrm{He}/{}^{22}\mathrm{Ne}\), halogen ratios (e.g., F/Cl) and low H/N ratios. In addition, the geochemical ratios indicate that most of the water could have been delivered prior to the Moon forming impact and that the Moon forming impact did not drive off the ocean. Given the importance of impacts in determining the volatile budget of the Earth we examine the contributions to atmospheric loss from both small and large impacts. We find that atmospheric mass loss due to impacts can be characterized into three different regimes: 1) Giant Impacts, that create a strong shock transversing the whole planet and that can lead to atmospheric loss globally. 2) Large enough impactors (\(m_{\mathit{cap}} \gtrsim \sqrt{2} \rho_{0} (\pi h R)^{3/2}\), \(r_{\mathit{cap}}\sim25~\mbox{km}\) for the current Earth), that are able to eject all the atmosphere above the tangent plane of the impact site, where \(h\), \(R\) and \(\rho_{0}\) are the atmospheric scale height, radius of the target, and its atmospheric density at the ground. 3) Small impactors (\(m_{\mathit{min}}>4 \pi\rho_{0} h^{3}\), \(r_{\mathit {min}}\sim 1~\mbox{km}\) for the current Earth), that are only able to eject a fraction of the atmospheric mass above the tangent plane. We demonstrate that per unit impactor mass, small impactors with \(r_{\mathit{min}} < r < r_{\mathit{cap}}\) are the most efficient impactors in eroding the atmosphere. In fact for the current atmospheric mass of the Earth, they are more than five orders of magnitude more efficient (per unit impactor mass) than giant impacts, implying that atmospheric mass loss must have been common. The enormous atmospheric mass loss efficiency of small impactors is due to the fact that most of their impact energy and momentum is directly available for local mass loss, where as in the giant impact regime a lot of energy and momentum is ’wasted’ by having to create a strong shock that can transverse the entirety of the planet such that global atmospheric loss can be achieved. In the absence of any volatile delivery and outgassing, we show that the population of late impactors inferred from the lunar cratering record containing 0.1% \(M_{\oplus }\) is able to erode the entire current Earth’s atmosphere implying that an interplay of erosion, outgassing and volatile delivery is likely responsible for determining the atmospheric mass and composition of the early Earth. Combining geochemical observations with impact models suggest an interesting synergy between small and big impacts, where giant impacts create large magma oceans and small and larger impacts drive the atmospheric loss.     

Isotopic analysis of cometary organic matter

Carbon isotope ratios have been measured for CN in the coma of comet Halley and for several CHON particles emitted by Halley. Of these, only the CHON-particle data may be reasonably related to organic matter in the cometary nucleus, but the true range of ¹³C/¹²C values in those particles is quite uncertain. The D/H ratio in H₂O in the Halley coma resembles that in Titan/Uranus. The next decade should substantially improve our understanding of the distribution of C, H, N, and O isotopes in cometary organics. The isotopic composition of meteoritic organic matter is better understood and can serve as a useful analog for the cometary case.     

X-Ray and extreme ultraviolet emissions from comets

There is significant progress in the observations, theory, and understanding of the x-ray and EUV emissions from comets since their discovery in 1996. That discovery was so puzzling because comets appear to be more efficient emitters of x-rays than the Moon by a factor of 80000. The detected emissions are general properties of comets and have been currently detected and analyzed in thirteen comets from five orbiting observatories. The observational studies before 2000 were based on x-ray cameras and low resolution (E/E1.5–3) instruments and focused on the morphology of x-rays, their correlations with gas and dust productions in comets and with the solar x-rays and the solar wind. Even those observations made it possible to choose uniquely charge exchange between the solar wind heavy ions and cometary neutrals as the main excitation process. The recently published spectra are of much better quality and result in the identification of the emissions of the multiply charged ions of O, C, Ne, Mg, and Si which are brought to comets by the solar wind. The observed spectra have been used to study the solar wind composition and its variations. Theoretical analyses of x-ray and EUV photon excitation in comets by charge exchange, scattering of the solar photons by attogram dust particles, energetic electron impact and bremsstrahlung, collisions between cometary and interplanetary dust, and solar x-ray scattering and fluorescence in comets have been made. These analyses confirm charge exchange as the main excitation mechanism, which is responsible for more than 90% of the observed emission, while each of the other processes is limited to a few percent or less. The theory of charge exchange and different methods of calculation for charge exchange are considered. Laboratory studies of charge exchange relevant to the conditions in comets are reviewed. Total and state-selective cross sections of charge exchange measured in the laboratory are tabulated. Simulations of synthetic spectra of charge exchange in comets are discussed. X-ray and EUV emissions from comets are related to different disciplines and fields such as cometary physics, fundamental physics, x-rays spectroscopy, and space physics.     

Multidimensional particle codes: Their capabilities and limitations

Increasing the number of dimensions calls for significant changes in simulation techniques. Demand on computer time and space increases by orders of magnitude and hardware development affects the feasibility. Gridless and Fokker-Planck codes are possible in ID, but one needs grids and PIC codes in 2D and 3D. This imposes limits on Debye lengths, particle size and spacing, and on resolution. Non-spectral (local) E-M codes also suffer a Courant restriction on δt, in addition to the usual ω_p δt restriction. Spectral methods therefore have an advantage; they also permit convenient filtering, particle shaping and control of resolution. 2D and codes are well advanced and documented (4,5). 3D codes are in their infancy. Data management, rather than physics or numerical analysis, becomes the major problem (10). Machine-independent 3D codes are too limited in resolution and speed. Parallelism helps greatly but makes the 3D codes machine-dependent. A present-day limit is attempted in a 2*128**3 grid code for CRAYs which process ∼ 5 million particles in ∼ 2 minutes per time step. Layering is employed to break up the 3D problem into many 2D problems. Fields and particles are packed and buffered in and out of core. Diagnostics are limited by the large volume of information accumulated in a run. Results of runs with 3D codes have tended to show that the third dimension, treated as “ignorable” in 2D simulations, should not have been ignored. With the next generation of highly parallel multiprocessors (which, however, call for the abandonment of spectral and implicit methods) one may hope to do very realistic 3D simulations.     

Isotopic Abundances in Comets

Isotopic ratios in comets provide keys for the understanding of the origin of cometary material, and the physical and chemical conditions in the early Solar Nebula. We review here measurements acquired on the D/H, ¹²C/¹³C, ¹⁶O/¹⁸O, ¹⁴N/¹⁵N, ³²S/³⁴S ratios in dust and gases, and discuss their cosmogonic implications. The prospects for future measurements from cometary space missions and remote sensing observations at millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths are presented. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Cometary Refractory Grains: Interstellar and Nebular Sources

Comets are heterogeneous mixtures of interstellar and nebular materials. The degree of mixing of interstellar sources and nebular sources at different nuclear size scales holds the promise of revealing how cometary particles, cometesimals, and cometary nuclei accreted. We can ascribe cometary materials to interstellar and nebular sources and see how comets probe planet-forming process in our protoplanetary disk. Comets and cometary IDPs contain carbonaceous matter that appears to be either similar to poorly-graphitized (amorphous) carbon, a likely ISM source, or highly labile complex organics, with possible ISM or outer disk heritage. The oxygen fugacity of the solar nebula depends on the dynamical interplay between the inward migration of carbon-rich grains and of icy (water-rich) grains. Inside the water dissociation line, OH^? reacts with carbon to form CO or CO₂, consuming available oxygen and contributing to the canonical low oxygen fugacity. Alternatively, the influx of water vapor and/or oxygen rich dust grains from outer (cooler) disk regions can raise the oxygen fugacity. Low oxygen fugacity of the canonical solar nebula favors the condensation of Mg-rich crystalline silicates and Fe-metal, or the annealing of Fe-Mg amorphous silicates into Mg-rich crystals and Fe-metal via Fe-reduction. High oxygen fugacity nebular conditions favors the condensation of Fe-bearing to Fe-rich crystalline silicates. In the ISM, Fe-Mg amorphous silicates are prevalent, in stark contrast to Mg-rich crystalline silicates that are rare. Hence, cometary Mg-rich crystalline silicates formed in the hot, inner regions of the canonical solar nebula and they are the touchstone for models of the outward radial transport of nebular grains to the comet-forming zone. Stardust samples are dominated by Mg-rich crystalline silicates but also contain abundant Fe-bearing and Fe-rich crystalline silicates that are too large (?0.1 μm) to be annealed Fe-Mg amorphous silicates. By comparison with asteroids, the Stardust Fe-bearing and Fe-rich crystalline silicates suggests partial aqueous alteration in comet nuclei. However, aqueous alteration transforms Fe-rich olivine to phyllosilicates before Mg-rich olivine, and Stardust has Mg-rich and Fe-rich olivine and no phyllosilicates. Hence, we look to a nebular source for the moderately Fe-rich to nearly pure-Fe crystalline silicates. Primitive matrices have Mg-Fe silicates but no phyllosilicates, supporting the idea that Mg-Fe silicates but not phyllosilicates are products of water-rich shocks. Chondrule-formation is a late stage process in our protoplanetary disk. Stardust samples show comet 81P/Wild 2 formed at least as late to incorporate a few chondrules, requiring radial transport of chondrules out to perhaps >20 AU. By similar radial transport mechanisms, collisional fragments of aqueously altered asteroids, in particular achondrites that formed earlier than chondrules, might reach the comet-forming zones. However, Stardust samples do not have phyllosilicates and chondrules are rare. Hence, the nebular refractory grains in comet 81P/Wild 2, as well as other comets, appear to be pre-accretionary with respect to asteroid parent bodies. By discussing nebular pathways for the formation of Fe-rich crystalline silicates, and also phyllosilicates and carbonates, we put forth the view that comets contain both the interstellar ingredients for and the products of nebular transmutation.     

Formation and Composition of Planetesimals

The composition of planetesimals depends upon the epoch and the location of their formation in the solar nebula. Meteorites produced in the hot inner nebula contain refractory compounds. Volatiles were present in icy planetesimals and cometesimals produced in the cold outer nebula. However, the mechanism responsible for their trapping is still controversial. We argue for a general scenario valid in all regions of the turbulent nebula where water condensed as a crystalline ice (Hersant et al., 2004). Volatiles were trapped in the form of clathrate hydrates in the continuously cooling nebula. The epoch of clathration of a given species depends upon the temperature and the pressure required for the stability of the clathrate hydrate. The efficiency of the mechanism depends upon the local amount of ice available. This scenario is the only one so far which proposes a quantitative interpretation of the non detection of N₂ in several comets of the Oort cloud (Iro et al., 2003). It may explain the large variation of the CO abundance observed in comets and predicts an Ar/O ratio much less than the upper limit of 0.1 times the solar ratio estimated on C/2001 A2 (Weaver et al., 2002). Under the assumption that the amount of water ice present at 5 AU was higher than the value corresponding to the solar O/H ratio by a factor 2.2 at least, the clathration scenario reproduces the quasi uniform enrichment with respect to solar of the Ar, Kr, Xe, C, N and S elements measured in Jupiter by the Galileo probe. The interpretation of the non-uniform enrichment in C, N and S in Saturn requires that ice was less abundant at 10 AU than at 5 AU so that CO and N₂ were not clathrated in the feeding zone of the planet while CH₄, NH₃ and H₂S were. As a result, the 14N/15N ratio in Saturn should be intermediate between that in Jupiter and the terrestrial ratio. Ar and Kr should be solar while Xe should be enriched by a factor 17. The enrichments in C, N and S in Uranus and Neptune suggest that available ice was able to form clathrates of CH₄, CO and the NH₃ hydrate, but not the clathrate of N₂. The enrichment of oxygen by a factor 440 in Neptune inferred by Lodders and Fegley (1994) from the detection of CO in the troposphere of the planet is higher by at least a factor 2.5 than the lower limit of O/H required for the clathration of CO and CH4 and for the hydration of NH₃. If CO detected by Encrenaz et al. (2004) in Uranus originates from the interior of the planet, the O/H ratio in the envelope must be around of order of 260 times the solar ratio, then also consistent with the trapping of detected volatiles by clathration. It is predicted that Ar and Kr are solar in the two planets while Xe would be enriched by a factor 30 to 70. Observational tests of the validity of the clathration scenario are proposed.     

Cometary Materials: Progress Toward Understanding the Composition in the Outer Solar Nebula

A major objective of the workshop was to learn about the chemical composition, physical structure, and thermodynamic conditions of the outer parts of the solar nebula where comets formed. Here we sum up what we have learned from years of research about the molecular constituents of comet comae primarily from in situ measurements of Comet 1P/Halley and remote sensing of Comets 1P/Halley, Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1), and Hyakutake (C/1996 B2). These three bright comets are presumably captured Oort cloud comets. We summarize the analyses of these data to predict the composition of comet nuclei and project them further to the composition, structure, and thermodynamic conditions in the nebula. Near-future comet missions are directed toward less active short-period Jupiter-family comets. Thus, future analyses will afford a better understanding of the diversity of these two major groups of comets and their respective regions of origin in the solar or presolar nebula. We conclude with recommendations for determining critical data needed to aid in further analyses. Results of the workshop provide new guidelines and constraints for modeling the solar nebula. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Characteristics and interpretation of the photometric variability of eta carinae and its nebula

A short review is given on the history of the peculiar variable object Car and on a number of relevant references describing and discussing its physical characteristics and behaviour, based on different types of observational techniques. The star is known to be variable since the 17th century. The excessive mass loss to which it was subject during the 19th century is now visible as an ellipsoidal reflection nebula of 15 diameter: the so-called homunculus. The remainder of the paper is spent on different kinds of problems partly based on the results of a decade of photometric monitoring in the VBLUW photometric system of Walraven. Foreground reddening and reddening by dust in the homunculus are determined and amount to E(B - V) _J = 0 50 and < 6, respectively. Scanning of the homunculus revealed an estimate for the photometric characteristics of the central object, which presumably consists of a massive hot star surrounded by a cooler gas envelope. The total luminosity is derived using fluxes of various sources in the wavelength region 0.15 < < 175 n resulting in M _bol = - 12 3 ± 0 2. The total observed flux corrected for foreground extinction corresponds to a star with R 96 R if T _eff 30 000 K. The mass may be near 150 M . The excess luminosity in 1843, when the star was presumably bolometrically at least 2 5 brighter than at present, may have been caused by envelope-energized pulsations when the star's luminosity was close to its Eddington limit. The temperature should then have been 50 000 K. The mass loss rate, during the excess luminosity phase lasting 30 yr, is estimated to amount to M 4 × 10^-3 M yr^-1. At present the mass loss may be M 10^-4M yr^-1. Since the homunculus is mainly built up from material expelled in the 30 yr interval (from 1830 to 1860), its total mass amounts to M _hom 0.15 M . The historical observations of the colours of Car and a comparison with the characteristics of S Dor type stars, suggest that Car was subject to a number of S Dor type phases similar to those of P Cyg (in the 17th century), S Dor and others. A satisfactory explanation is found for the complete historical light curve. The decrease in light after the 1843 maximum by 9 ^m , presumably consists of a fading of the luminosity excess and the S Dor effect by 2 5 and 3^m, respectively, and a 3 5 extinction by circumstellar dust. The small amplitude light variations which Car showed during the last decade, were studied with the aid of the variations of the Balmer jump. They are presumably caused by temperature variations of the central star.Percy and Welch (1983) (Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific 95, 491) have observed P Cyg on a number of nights in 1982 and found for the photometric variations a time scale of 30 to 50 days and an amplitude of 0 _. ^m 15.Based partly on observations collected at the ESO, La Silla, Chile.     

Origin of Molecular Oxygen in Comets: Current Knowledge and Perspectives

The Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) instrument onboard the Rosetta spacecraft has measured molecular oxygen (O₂) in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) in surprisingly high abundances. These measurements mark the first unequivocal detection of O₂ in a cometary environment. The large relative abundance of O₂ in 67P/C-G despite its high reactivity and low interstellar abundance poses a puzzle for its origin in comet 67P/C-G, and potentially other comets. Since its detection, there have been a number of hypotheses put forward to explain the production and origin of O₂ in the comet. These hypotheses cover a wide range of possibilities from various in situ production mechanisms to protosolar nebula and primordial origins. Here, we review the O₂ formation mechanisms from the literature, and provide a comprehensive summary of the current state of knowledge of the sources and origin of cometary O₂.     

Cometary dynamics

The modern theory of cometary dynamics is based on Oort's hypothesis that the solar system is surrounded by a spherically symmetric cloud of 10¹¹ to 10¹² comets extending out to interstellar distances. Dynamical modeling and analysis of cometary motion have confirmed the ability of the Oort hypothesis to explain the observed distribution of energies for the long-period comet orbits. The motion of comets in the Oort cloud is controlled by perturbations from random passing stars, interstellar clouds, and the galactic gravitational field. Additionally, comets which enter the planetary region are perturbed by the major planets and by nongravitational forces resulting from jetting of volatiles on the surfaces of the cometary nuclei. The current Oort cloud is estimated to have a radius of 6 to 8 × 10⁴ AU, and to contain some 2 × 10¹² comets with a total mass of 7 to 8 Earth masses. Evidence has begun to accumulate for the existence of a massive inner Oort cloud extending from just beyond the orbit of Neptune to 10⁴ AU or more, with a population up to 100 times that of the outer Oort cloud. This inner cloud may serve as a reservoir to replenish the outer cloud as comets are stripped away by the various perturbers, and may also provide a more efficient source for the short-period comets. Recent suggestions of an unseen solar companion star or a tenth planet orbiting in the inner cloud and causing periodic comet showers on the Earth are likely unfounded. The formation site of the comets in the Oort cloud was likely the extended nebula accretion disc reaching from about 15 to 500 AU from the forming protosun. Comets which escape from the Oort cloud contribute to the flux of interstellar comets, though capture of interstellar comets by the solar system is extremely unlikely. The existence of Oort clouds around other main sequence stars has been suggested by the detection by the IRAS spacecraft of cool dust shells around about 10% of nearby stars.