Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Nov 1987
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987a%26a...187..889j&link_type=abstract
Astronomy and Astrophysics, Vol.187, NO. 1+2/NOV, P. 889, 1987
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
66
Scientific paper
Ion irradiation of the outer meters of a cometary surface can produce new molecular species in the solid state. Because of the interfaces with the interplanetary vacuum these species segregate in an irreversible way into a nonvolatile residue and new very volatile species. The latter are ejected directly or lost when the comet enters the inner solar system. Therefore, a comet exposed to background particle radiations in the Oort cloud obtains an outer web of non-volatile material (˜ 102 g cm-2) which will lead to the formation of a substantial "crust". When a new comet enters the inner solar system there will be early activity, initial fizzures in the crust and the break-off of unstable pieces of the crust, due to warming of subsurface species. If this comet enters a periodic orbit in the inner solar system the remaining mantle should be continuously hardened due, primarily, to thermal processing. There will also be permanently active regions on such a comet which were initially shaded from the cosmic ray radiation when the comet was in the Oort cloud or which subsequently lost their crust.
Cooper John F.
Johnson Robert E.
Lanzerotti Louis J.
Strazzulla Giovanni
No associations
LandOfFree
Radiation Formation of a Non-Volatile Comet Crust does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Radiation Formation of a Non-Volatile Comet Crust, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Radiation Formation of a Non-Volatile Comet Crust will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1713008