The path and surviving tail of a comet that fell into the sun

Other

Scientific paper

Rate now

  [ 0.00 ] – not rated yet Voters 0   Comments 0

Details

12

Comet Tails, Orbit Calculation, Solar Atmosphere, Coronagraphs, Cosmic Dust, Orbital Elements, Perihelions, Radiation Pressure, Satellite-Borne Instruments, Solar Gravitation

Scientific paper

A satisfactory orbital solution for Comet Howard-Koomen-Michels 1979 XI is found on the assumption that the comet's line of apsides coincided with that of the Kreutz sungrazing comet group. The derived perihelion distance then shows that this is the first known case of a comet falling into the sun. A dust tail that survived the comet is studied as a particle flow phenomenon controlled by no force other than solar gravity and solar radiation pressure. The tail's outline is interpreted in terms of an onset of dust production, a peak repulsive force on the particles, and a circumsolar dustfree zone due to particle sublimation. It is shown that the surviving debris consisted mostly of absorbing, submicron size particles in hyperbolic trajectories convex to the sun and curving toward the earth. The tail width may be a product of the interaction of charged dust in the tail with a complicated structure of the coronal magnetic field.

No associations

LandOfFree

Say what you really think

Search LandOfFree.com for scientists and scientific papers. Rate them and share your experience with other people.

Rating

The path and surviving tail of a comet that fell into the sun 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 The path and surviving tail of a comet that fell into the sun, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and The path and surviving tail of a comet that fell into the sun will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

     

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-1022418

  Search
All data on this website is collected from public sources. Our data reflects the most accurate information available at the time of publication.