Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 1990
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1990uat..reptq....s&link_type=abstract
Final Report, 15 Aug. 1989 - 14 Aug. 1990 Arizona Univ., Tucson.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Asteroids, Comets, Debris, Infrared Astronomy Satellite, Meteoroids, Schwassmann-Wachmann Comet, Zodiacal Dust, Diffusion, Mathematical Models, Orbital Elements, Solar Position, Spatial Distribution, Spectral Reflectance, Surveys, Temperature Gradients
Scientific paper
Observations of cometary dust trails and zodiacal dust bands, discovered by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) were analyzed in a continuing effort to understand their nature and relationship to comets, asteroids, and processes effecting those bodies. A survey of all trails observed by IRAS has been completed, and analysis of this phenomenon continues. A total of 8 trails have been associated with known short-period comets (Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Encke, Gunn, Kopff, Pons-Winnecke, Schwassmann-Wachmann 1, Tempel 1, and Tempel 2), and a few faint trails have been detected which are not associated with any known comet. It is inferred that all short-period comets may have trails, and that the trails detected were seen as a consequence of observational selection effects. Were IRAS launched today, it would likely observe a largely different set of trails. The Tempel 2 trail exhibits a small but significant excess in color temperature relative to a blackbody at the same heliocentric distance. This excess may be due to the presence of a population of small, low-beta particles deriving from large particles within the trail, or a temperature gradient over the surface of large trail particles. Trails represent the very first stage in the formation and evolution of a meteor stream, and may also be the primary mechanism by which comets contribute to the interplanetary dust complex. A mathematical model of the spatial distribution of orbitally evolved collisional debris was developed which reproduces the zodiacal dust band phenomena and was used in the analysis of dust band observations made by IRAS. This has resulted in the principal zodiacal dust bands being firmly related to the principal Hirayama asteroid families. In addition, evidence for the collisional diffusion of the orbital elements of the dust particles has been found in the case of dust generated in the Eos asteroid family.
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