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Millimeter-wave experiments for cometary space missionsPredicted brightness temperatures, computed by means of radiative transfer techniques adapted from the modeling of terrestrial ice and snow fields, are given for cometary nucleus models consisting of homogeneous layers of water ice and refractory grain mixtures presented as functions of wavelength. The computed millimeter-wave spectra are sensitive to the values of such physically significant nucleus parameters as (1) crust thickness, (2) subsurface temperature gradient, and (3) sublimating surface boundary temperature. Although antenna beam dilution is a major obstacle for ground-based molecular spectral line radio observations of comets, a millimeter-wave radiometer in the vicinity of the comet would be immune to this effect and able to make observations of several candidate parent molecules in the gas phase.
Document ID
19820033680
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Hobbs, R. W.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Brandt, J. C.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Maran, S. P.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Hollis, J. M.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Laboratory for Astronomy and Solar Physics, Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 10, 2013
Publication Date
September 1, 1981
Subject Category
Astrophysics
Accession Number
82A17215
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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