Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Feb 1976
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1976ap%26ss..39..335m&link_type=abstract
Astrophysics and Space Science, vol. 39, Feb. 1976, p. 335-385.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
21
Astronomical Models, Atmospheric Models, Comet Heads, Comet Nuclei, Astronomical Photometry, Astronomical Spectroscopy, Chemical Composition, Coma, Free Radicals, Interplanetary Medium, Interstellar Gas, Isophotes, Optical Thickness, Solar Radiation, Water Vapor
Scientific paper
A comprehensive review of current knowledge about the neutral gas atmospheres of comets is given, with emphasis on the task of deriving the chemical composition of the cometary nucleus. The discussion centers on the following major topics: photometric and spectrophotometric observations of the neutral atmosphere and its constituent neutral radicals, molecules, and atoms; excitation processes responsible for the observed emissions from the neutral coma; the parent molecules of the neutral radicals; the gas-phase chemistry likely to take place in the dense inner coma; dynamic models (both exospheric and hydrodynamic) of the neutral atmosphere; and the chemical compositions of comets. The primary conclusions reached on the basis of all the data considered are that: (1) the chemical composition of the dust component is most likely to be the same as that of the stream meteoroids which burn up on hitting the earth's upper atmosphere; (2) the dominant icy component in most comets is probably H2O; and (3) anomalous abundances of other volatile species are present in some comets.
Huen Ip Wing
Mendis Asoka D.
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