|
| | | | |
| | | |
| Stat |
Members: 3645
Articles: 2'504'928
Articles rated: 2609
25 April 2024 |
|
| | | | |
|
Article overview
| |
|
|
The pre-perihelion activity of dynamically new comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) and its close encounter with Mars | | Dennis Bodewits
; Michael S.P. Kelley
; Jian-Yang Li
; Tony L. Farnham
; Michael F. A'Hearn
; | | Date: |
25 Feb 2015 | | Abstract: | We used the UltraViolet-Optical Telescope on board Swift to systematically
follow the dynamically new comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) on its approach to
the Sun. The comet was observed from a heliocentric distance of 4.5 AU
pre-perihelion to its perihelion at 1.4 AU. From our observations, we estimate
that the water production rate during closest approach to Mars was 1.5 +/- 0.3
x 1E28 molecules/s, that peak gas delivery rates were between 4.5-8.8 kg/s, and
that in total between 3.1-5.4 x 1E4 kg cometary gas was delivered to the
planet. Seasonal and evolutionary effects on the nucleus govern the
pre-perihelion activity of comet Siding Spring. The sudden increase of its
water production between 2.46-2.06 AU suggests the onset of the sublimation of
icy grains in the coma, likely driven by CO2. As the comet got closer to the
Sun, the relative contribution of the nucleus’ water production increased,
while CO2 production rates decreased. The changes in the comet’s activity can
be explained by a depletion of CO2, but the comet’s high mass loss rate
suggests they may also reflect primordial heterogeneities in the nucleus. | | Source: | arXiv, 1502.7216 | | Services: | Forum | Review | PDF | Favorites | |
|
|
No review found.
Did you like this article?
Note: answers to reviews or questions about the article must be posted in the forum section.
Authors are not allowed to review their own article. They can use the forum section.
browser Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
|
| |
|
|
|
|
News, job offers and information for researchers and scientists:
| |
REGISTER