Biology
Scientific paper
Apr 1980
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1980natur.284..431w&link_type=abstract
Nature, vol. 284, Apr. 3, 1980, p. 431-433. Research supported by the Science Research Council of England.
Biology
30
Aluminum Isotopes, Comet Nuclei, Radiogenic Materials, Astronomical Models, Cosmology, Exobiology, Ice, Moisture, Comets, Interiors, Melting, Conduction, Aluminum 26, Radioisotopes, Decay, Heating, Freezing, Cores, Condensation, Temperatures, Accretion, Density, Pressure, Ice, Models, Water Vapor, Radioactivity, Chronology
Scientific paper
The melting of the core of a primordial comet due to heat released upon the radioactive decay of Al-26 contained within it is discussed. For a spherical, 10-km comet composed of loose snow and mineral grains in the primordial nebula, it is shown that a large fluid dust, droplet and vapor core could develop surrounded by a 1-km thick icy shell with enhanced conductivity and a further 2 km of snow metamorphosing by sublimation, diffusion and condensation into larger ice crystals. As the radioactivity decays, the comet center would gradually refreeze by the deposition of frost and hail on the interior of the ice shell, resulting in a hollow core which could explain the presumed splitting of some disintegrating comets and could have provided a well-protected environment for elementary biological systems.
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