Abstract
THE presence of magnetic fields in the plasma tails of comets is suggested by the rayed structures and helical features observed in them1. According to the present picture of the solar wind-comet interaction (see, for example, ref. 2) it is, however, not at all clear how the interplanetary magnetic field could mix with the cometary plasma in the tail because the solar wind and the associated interplanetary field is separated from the cometary plasma by a contact surface.
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MENDIS, A., ALFVÉN, H. Magnetisation of comets. Nature 248, 36–37 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/248036a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/248036a0
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