Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 2003
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2003dps....35.3829k&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #35, #38.29; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 35, p.1488
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
Because of the outstanding brightness of comet Hale-Bopp, reliable production rates of several molecules could be measured over a wide range of heliocentric distances. The H2O activity of a comet is closely connected with the energy balance and the composition of its surface. Previous models predict that more volatile molecules, such as CO, originate from decimeters to meters below the surface, but the results don't fit the measurements. A thermal model has been applied to calculate H2O and CO gas production rates of Hale-Bopp. By comparing measured and calculated rates, some physical properties of the nucleus have been derived. For a low conductivity, the CO sublimation front varies strongly with heliocentric distance and almost reaches surface at perihelion, while for a high conductivity CO remains in deeper layers. Assuming low heat conductivity the measured variations of H2O and CO production rate as a function of heliocentric distance can be well described. Moreover, using the percolation theory, it is found that the porosity of the nucleus must be higher than 0.3 to allow gas diffusion from deep layers.
Groussin Olivier
Knollenberg Jörg
Kuehrt Ekkehard
Weiler Markus
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