LAUSR

Abstract We have investigated the propagation characteristics of Ion-Acoustic Solitary Waves (IASWs) in a magnetized, cometary plasma consisting of hydrogen ions, positively and negatively charged oxygen ions, kappa described hot solar electrons, and slightly colder cometary electrons. The effects of q -nonextensive distributions, on both lighter and heavier ions have been studied by deriving the Zakharov–Kuznetsov (ZK) equation. The basic features of IASWs such as amplitude, width, and phase speed have been extensively studied by a numerical analysis of the ZK equation. It is found that superthermality of the electrons and nonextensivity of ions significantly modify the characteristics of the solitary waves. The amplitudes of the solitary waves seem to be well correlated to the presence of water molecules in a cometary plasma and the associated photoionization processes.