Physical loss of long-period comets

Details Physical loss of long-period comets Physical loss of long-period comets

May 1980

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1980a%26a....85..191w&link_type=abstract

Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 85, no. 1-2, May 1980, p. 191-196.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

39

Comets, Solar System, Albedo, Collisions, Disrupting, Evolution (Development), Mathematical Models, Oort Cloud, Sublimation, Comets, Long Period Comets, Collisions, Roche Limit, Volatile Elements, Ice, Nucleus, Observations, Analysis, Monte Carlo Techniques, Data, Dynamics, Models, Sublimation, Planets, Asteroids, Statistical Analysis, Evaporation, Vapor Pressure, Catalogs, Oort Cloud Comets, Perihelion, Orbits, Comae, Slip Comets, Sun Grazers, Comparisons, Albedo, Density

Scientific paper

Loss of long-period comets from the solar system through a variety of physical processes is investigated. It is shown that planetary collision, defined as a comet passing within the Roche radius of any planet, has a probability of 1.35 x 10 to the -7th per perihelion passage for a long-period comet on a randomly oriented orbit. Sublimation of all volatiles for a one-kilometer radius hydrate ice nucleus would require on the order of 600 to 27,600 perihelion passages, depending on the surface albedo and assuming a perihelion distance of one astronomical unit. Analysis of observational records indicates that for dynamically 'new' comets in the Oort-Schmidt sense there is about a 10% probability of the comet randomly disrupting on its first perihelion passage. This probability drops to 4% per perihelion passage for older long-period comets, and less than 1% for short-period comets. The consequences of these loss mechanisms when incorporated into Monte-Carlo studies of long-period comet evolution are also discussed.

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