Introduction: The Stardust mission obtained the first dust samples in the coma of an active comet for laboratory analyses. Earlier chemical data on dust from an active comet came from the GIOTTO and VEGA missions to comet Halley [1]. For decades aggregate interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) were available from parent bodies other than those of meteorites [2], i.e. comets or comet-like bodies. ...

Introduction: Up to now, only cometary dust from comet 1P/Halley has been analyzed in situ by mass spectrometry techniques. In contrast, numerous studies have been performed in the laboratory over interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) thought to be related to comets. Another discipline that addresses the study of the chemical composition of small meteoroids is meteor spectroscopy, which focuses ...

Pitch-angle volution of newborn cometary ions is studied by means of one-dimensiona,1 electromagnetic hybrid computer simulations ofhomogeneous plasmas. Newborn ions are injected into the simulations at a constant rate, with a velocity relative to the solar wind which makes an angie a with respect to the ambient magnetic field. The simulations are done with relatively weak ion injection rates c...

[1] Long-period planetary wave data derived from meteor wind observations recorded over a 12-year period with the SuperDARN radar at Halley, Antarctica, are presented and compared with the phase of the quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) throughout the equatorial stratosphere. Enhanced planetary wave activity in the Antarctic upper mesosphere is found during the summer months, when the QBO in the ...