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Streaming Clumps Ejection Model and the Heterogeneous Inner Coma of Comet Wild 2The conventional concept of cometary comae is that they are dominated by fine particulates released individually by sublimation of surface volatiles and subsequent entrainment in the near-surface gas. It has long been recognized that such particulates could be relatively large, with early estimates that objects perhaps up to one meter in size may be levitated from the surface of the typical cometary nucleus. However, the general uniformity and small average particulate size of observed comae and the relatively smooth, monotonic increases and decreases in particle density during the Giotto flythrough of comet Halley s coma in 1986 reinforced the view that the bulk of the particles are released at the surface, are fine-sized and inert. Jets have been interpreted as geometrically constrained release of these particulates. With major heterogeneities observed during the recent flythrough of the inner coma of comet Wild 2, these views deserve reconsideration.
Document ID
20040056014
Acquisition Source
Johnson Space Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Clark, B. C.
(Lockheed Martin Corp. United States)
Economou, T. E.
(Chicago Univ. Chicago, IL, United States)
Green, S. F.
(Open Univ. United Kingdom)
Sandford, S. A.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Zolensky, M. E.
(NASA Johnson Space Center Houston, TX, United States)
Date Acquired
August 21, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 2004
Publication Information
Publication: Lunar and Planetary Science XXXV: Stardust Mission
Subject Category
Lunar And Planetary Science And Exploration
Report/Patent Number
JSC-CN-8358
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.
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