Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 1996
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996dps....28.0818k&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #28, #08.18; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 28, p.1086
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
It is shown that, in the case of large phase angles, the wavelength dependence of the polarization is mainly controlled by the absorption index of the particle material, whereas the spectral dependence of the intensity is also sensitive to the size of the particles. This suggests that observations of the wavelength dependence of the polarization (i.e. "polarization spectra") may determine the composition of cometary dust. Here we make an attempt to find the composition of the cometary dust material by comparing the observed polarimetric data with laboratory measurements of complex refractive indices of possible cometary constituents. Silicates, graphite, metals, organics, water ice and their mixtures are considered. It is shown that silicates are the most abundant constituents of cometary dust in the range of heliocentric distances of 0.8-1.8 AU, whereas the volume fraction of pure graphite or pure metals is less then 1%. There is evidence for the presence of a substance similar to that of F-type asteroids, and also an organic material which is destroyed between heliocentric distances of 0.8-1.8 AU.
Jockers Klaus
Kolokolova Ludmilla
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