X-ray emissions from comets detected in the Rontgen x-ray satellite all-sky survey

被引:139
作者
Dennerl, K
Englhauser, J
Trumper, J
机构
关键词
D O I
10.1126/science.277.5332.1625
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
After the unexpected discovery of x-rays emitted from comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) with the Rontgen X-ray Satellite (ROSAT) in March 1996, x-ray emissions from comets C/1990 K1 (Levy), C/1990 N1 (Tsuchiya-Kiuchi), 45P (Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova), and C/1991 A2 (Arai), optically 300 to 30,000 times fainter than Hyakutake, were discovered in archival ROSAT data. These findings establish comets as a class of x-ray sources and allow their properties to be studied over a wide optical brightness range. The results indicate that charge exchange between highly charged heavy ions in the solar wind and cometary neutrals is the dominant process for the x-ray emission. Comets may thus be used as probes for monitoring the heavy-ion content of the solar wind.
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页码:1625 / 1630
页数:6
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