Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 1976
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1976natur.263...15w&link_type=abstract
Nature, vol. 263, Sept. 2, 1976, p. 15-19.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
3
Astronomical Models, Comet Tails, Comets, Solar Wind, Chemical Composition, Comet Heads, Comet Nuclei, Cosmic Plasma, Kohoutek Comet, Oort Cloud
Scientific paper
Several of the most important steps leading to the present understanding of the physical and chemical processes involved in comets are reviewed. The main ideas discussed include the discredited gravel-bank model of comets, Oort's (1950) theory of a great comet cloud, Whipple's (1951) theory of a dirty-ice cometary nucleus, and Biermann's (1951) concept that the solar wind could produce the structural forms and high accelerations observed in cometary ion tails. The development of these theories is outlined, the problem is considered of identifying the stable 'parent' molecules which dissociate into observed radicals, and studies of cometary mass loss are noted. Observations of comets Kohoutek, Bradfield, and West are described which have resolved some apparent paradoxes in cometary properties.
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