Finding magnetic reconnection in the cometary plasma environment (Ref: RDF26/SE/EPM/GOETZ)

About the Project

Comets are small bodies that journey through the solar system on often highly elliptical orbits. As they near the Sun, the ices on the surface sublimate and gas and dust escape into space. This is sometimes visible by naked eye as stunning cometary tails, but it also has consequences for the solar wind, the plasma permeating the solar system. As the cometary gases encounter the solar wind and its magnetic field, the two plasmas interact and form an intricate cometosphere. The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission explored this region for over two years with the goal to understand the processes in this unique plasma.

The main goal of this project is to better understand tail disconnection events at comets by investigating the occurrence of reconnection in the inner plasma environment.

So far, no obvious signatures of reconnection were detected by spacecraft at comets. This project aims to perform the first in-depth study of possible reconnection in the environment of comet 67P, which was visited by the Rosetta spacecraft from 2014 to 2016.

A variety of methods will be used to tackle this study:

1. Analysis of the existing Rosetta dataset with an emphasis on calculating parameters relating to reconnection such as resistivity and Alfven velocity. The data quality requires careful treatment and a good understanding of the constraints. The candidate will therefore gain data analysis skills as well as a knowledge of space instruments.
2. An in-depth analysis of possible reconnection regions using data and existing plasma simulations to support the observations and provide a global context.

This project is part of the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship COMMIT (Cometary Observation and Modelling of Mass-loading Ions in the Tail) and therefore embedded in the Solar and Space Physics Group at Northumbria University.

The project will contribute to the upcoming ESA mission Comet Interceptor, to be launched in 2029.

Topics covered by the project are: space plasma physics, data analysis, space missions, comets.

Student Profile: This project would be suitable for a student with a background in physics, applied mathematics or closely-related physical science. Prior knowledge of space plasma physics is not necessary. Prior knowledge of a Python is desirable but training in all necessary skills will be provided.