Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
Sep 1982
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1982apj...260..386m&link_type=abstract
Astrophysical Journal, Part 1, vol. 260, Sept. 1, 1982, p. 386-394.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
35
Atmospheric Heating, Cometary Atmospheres, Photolysis, Atmospheric Temperature, Conservation Equations, Differential Equations, Self Consistent Fields, Solar Flux, Solar Radiation, Thermal Expansion, Thermodynamics, Water
Scientific paper
A self-consistent solution of the thermodynamic structure of an H2O-dominated multispecies cometary atmosphere at 1 AU is obtained by solving the simultaneous set of differential equations representing conservation of number density, momentum, energy, and the flux of solar UV radiation in the three streams responsible for the major photolytic processes. The relative efficiency of the expansion and infrared cooling by H2O over the photolytic heating by the UV radiation in the inner coma brings about a rapid decrease in the temperature there, reaching a minimum of only about 5.4 K at a nuclear distance of approximately 54 km. Thereafter, the temperature is found to increase to about 810 K at a nuclear distance of 25,000 km, owing to higher efficiency of the photolytic heating over the cooling process. The expansion in the inner coma is seen to be highly supersonic, attaining a maximum Mach number of about 15 at the distance of temperature minimum. After that, the Mach number steadily decreases, reaching a value of about 2.3 at a nuclear distance of 25,000 km.
Marconi Max L.
Mendis Asoka D.
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