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Evolution of C/2006 M4 (SWAN) comet tails

  • Dynamics and Physics of Bodies of the Solar System
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Abstract

We studied variations in the structure of plasma and dust tails of the C/2006 M4 (SWAN) comet during a long observation period (September–December 2006). We found sizes of grains ejected by the comet from the synchronic-syndynamic analysis of comet images. We calculated solar wind speed for high heliographic latitudes from calculations of the aberration angle of the comet plasma tail. Rapid changes in the calculated values of the solar wind speed are caused by its variable transversal component.

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Correspondence to Yu. V. Sizonenko.

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Original Russian Text © Yu.V. Sizonenko, 2012, published in Kinematika i Fizika Nebesnykh Tel, 2012, Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 16–24.

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Sizonenko, Y.V. Evolution of C/2006 M4 (SWAN) comet tails. Kinemat. Phys. Celest. Bodies 28, 9–14 (2012). https://doi.org/10.3103/S0884591312010072

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.3103/S0884591312010072

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