Observations of mixed warm and cold electrons with RPC-MIP at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Nicolas Gilet (1) , Pierre Henri (1) , Anders Eriksson , Xavier Vallières (1) , Gaëtan Wattieaux (2) , Charlotte Goetz , Jérôme Moré (1) , Orélien Randriamboarison (1) , Elias Odelstad , Fredrik Johansson

1 LPC2E - Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace
2 UT - Université de Toulouse

Predicted by numerical simulations, the Mutual Impedance Probe (RPC-MIP) onboard the ESA's Rosetta spacecraft observed signatures of a mixed warm and cold electron population in the cometary plasma of 67P/Churuymov-Gerasimenko. Thanks to the high cadence measurements of the RPC-MIP instrument, we illustrate the dynamics of the cold and warm electron populations. We confirm the observations of the cold component provided by the Langmuir Probes (RPC-LAP). The electron density and the electron temperature are consistent with RPC-LAP.

Domains: Sciences of the Universe [physics]

Nicolas Gilet, Pierre Henri, Anders Eriksson, Xavier Vallières, Gaëtan Wattieaux, et al.. Observations of mixed warm and cold electrons with RPC-MIP at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. European Planetary Science Congress 2018, Sep 2018, Berlin, Germany. 18 pp. ⟨insu-03565612⟩