Dust Size and Outflow Velocity Distributions for Comet S--L 9

Details Dust Size and Outflow Velocity Distributions for Comet S--L 9 Dust Size and Outflow Velocity Distributions for Comet S--L 9

Sep 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996dps....28.0813h&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #28, #08.13; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 28, p.1085

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Dust size and outflow velocity distributions have been extracted from HST images of Comet Shoemaker--Levy 9 via Monte Carlo modeling, and preliminary results are reported here. Despite recent reports to the contrary, S--L 9 was definitely an active, dust--producing comet. Fig. 1 gives the differential dust production rate ddot {N}(R) and mass loss rate ddot {M}(R) assuming a 0.04 albedo for fragment G_1 observed between January and July 1994. The outflow velocity distribution, Fig. 2, reveals only a weak V~ R(-0.1) dependence on grain radius R. Fig. 3 gives the relative rates at which the various dust grains contribute to the coma optical depth, and indicates the R ~ 100\ mu m grains are the dominate light scatters. Grains smaller than R ~ 1\ mu m and as large as R ~ 1 cm contribute only ~ 10% of the total coma optical depth. Fig. 4 compares simulated and observed isophotes for the June 26, 1994 observation. The best fit to the observations yield a phase coefficient beta =0.034+/-0.002 mag/degree. Preliminary findings show that fragment G_1 was vigorously ejecting mass at a rate ~ 50 kg/sec, which is comparable to dust box[t]{4.8in}{ box[t]{3.0in}{ \epsfxsize=3.2in \epsfysize=3.0in \epsfysize=3.0in \epsfbox{7218.eps} } box[t]{1.5in}{ production by the similarly distant but much larger comets Chiron and S--W 1. This dust production rate implies a lower limit of ~ 250 m on fragment G_1's diameter at the time of tidal breakup. Results for fragments H, K, L, and S will also be reported, as well as estimates and/or upper limits on the fragment sizes just prior to impact.} }

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