Jack Brandt, Associate Member of IfA
Research Interests:
My current research is focused on understanding the interaction of the solar wind with comets, with an emphasis on disconnection events (DEs) and the use of comets as probes of the solar wind. DEs are a complete severing of the plasma tail and the generation of a new one. The probable cause is magnetic reconnection on the sunward side of a comet when it crosses the heliospheric current sheet (HCS). Monitoring comets through large-scale imaging provides the data to confirm or refine the physical picture. Comets also probe a wide range of solar latitudes in the heliosphere and can be used to map the boundary between the equatorial and polar regions of the solar wind. This work began with studies of comets de Vico (1995), Hyakutake (1996), and Hale-Bopp (1997). It continues with a campaign to document comet LINEAR C/2000 WM1. These studies use images taken by professional astronomers, amateur astronomers, and students.