Hale-Bopp: What Makes a Big Comet Different? Coma Dynamics: Observations and Theory

Abstract

Comet Hale—Bopp was the largest comet by almost any definition, observed at least since the advent of modern observing techniques. In a more typical comet both the chemical and dynamical influences of collisional processes are limited by the short time a parcel of gas sublimated from the nucleus remains in the dense part of the coma. The resulting large size of the collisional coma in comet Hale—Bopp had important consequences on the dynamics of the coma, which in turn has important consequences on how observations are interpreted with standard models. Measured velocities of typical gas species (mostly the observed radicals) as well as dust were larger than normal comets. Conversely, velocities of superthermal atomic hydrogen were smaller than normal because of the same collisional processes. Furthermore, as a consequence, dust particles, which are dragged by the outflowing gas, were also accelerated to larger velocities. Such larger velocities are not simply an interesting curiosity in their own right, because nearly all observations of dust and gas are interpreted with models of the coma that depend directly on some measurement or assumption with regard to velocity. In this presentation both observations and theory regarding the dynamical conditions in the coma of comet Hale—Bopp are summarized.