SAMPLING THE BIMODAL SOLAR WIND WITH THE BRIGHT COMET 2009 P1 openParGARRADDclosePar

We propose to use the sensitivity and spectral capabilities of XMMNewton in thesoft Xray band to catch a comet interacting with the polar wind for the firsttime ever. The combination of the current solar minimum as well as the orbit andactivity of comet 2009/P1 (Garradd) offers a unique opportunity to acquirespectroscopic observations from an important solar wind regime that is onlysparsely accessible to remote and insitu observations. Our study is thus ofdirect importance to cometary and heliospheric sciences, but also to studies ofthe Xray back ground attributed to solar wind charge exchange. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]