Sub-Surface Cavities as Sources of Cometary Jets

Details Sub-Surface Cavities as Sources of Cometary Jets Sub-Surface Cavities as Sources of Cometary Jets

Oct 2007

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.4309d&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #43.09; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.499

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

The spacecraft flybys of Comets 1P/Halley, 19P/Borrelly, 81P/Wild 2 and 9P/Tempel 1 revealed the existence of numerous collimated jets in the near-nucleus coma, apparently being the building-blocks of the larger jets or coma asymmetries frequently seen in ground-based observations. Proposed jet formation mechanisms include isolated active areas, influence of nucleus topography on coma outflow, or venting from sub-surface cavities connected to the surface by holes or cracks.
The present paper investigates the latter mechanism focusing on the thermophysical aspects of the sub-surface cavity problem. A novel time-dependent and spatially two-dimensional code has been developed to study the flow of heat through a porous dust mantle, and the sublimation of the icy walls of a sub-surface cavity, being connected to the exterior by a channel through the dust mantle. The outgassing characteristics of the cavity are investigated for a range of conditions (e.g. different heliocentric distance, rotational period, heat conductivity, and geometrical dimensions of the cavity). The results are used both to investigate the likelihood of sub-surface cavities being the source of jet structures, as well as to provide observable tell-tale signs of existence of such cavities for the ESA Rosetta mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

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