Charge exchange avalanche at the cometopause

A sharp (≤10 4 km thick) transition from a solar wind proton dominated flow to a plasma population primarily consisting of relatively cold cometary heavy ions has been observed at a cometocentric distance of about 1.6×10 5 km by the VEGA and GIOTTO missions. This boundary (the cometopause) was thought to be related to charge transfer processes, but its location and thickness are inconsistent with conventionally estimated ion ‐ neutral coupling boundaries. In this paper a two‐fluid model is used to investigate the major physical processes at the cometopause. By adopting observed comet Halley parameters the model is able to reproduce the location and the thickness of this charge exchange boundary.