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Comments on comet shapes and aggregation processes
| Content Provider | NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS) |
|---|---|
| Author | Hartmann, William K. |
| Copyright Year | 1989 |
| Description | An important question for a comet mission is whether comet nuclei preserve information clarifying aggregation processes of planetary matter. New observational evidence shows that Trojan asteroids, as a group, display a higher fraction of highly-elongated objects than the belt. More recently evidence has accumulated that comet nuclei, as a group, also display highly-elongated shapes at macro-scale. This evidence comes from the several comets whose nuclear lightcurves or shapes have been well studied. Trojans and comet nuclei share other properties. Both groups have extremely low albedos and reddish-to neutral-black colors typical of asteroids of spectral class D, P, and C. Both groups may have had relatively low collision frequencies. An important problem to resolve with spacecraft imaging is whether these elongated shapes are primordial, or due to evolution of the objects. Two hypotheses that might be tested by a combination of global-scale and close-up imaging from various directions are: (1) The irregular shapes are primordial and related to the fact that these bodies have had lower collision frequencies than belt asteroids; or (2) The irregular shapes may be due to volatile loss. |
| File Size | 143038 |
| Page Count | 2 |
| File Format | |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://archive.org/details/NASA_NTRS_Archive_19900007306 |
| Archival Resource Key | ark:/13960/t1vf1qw8w |
| Language | English |
| Publisher Date | 1989-01-01 |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Subject Keyword | Astrophysics Comets Histograms Comet Nuclei Asteroids Imaging Techniques Flyby Missions Light Curve Spectra Shapes Interstellar Matter Ntrs Nasa Technical Reports Server (ntrs) Nasa Technical Reports Server Aerodynamics Aircraft Aerospace Engineering Aerospace Aeronautic Space Science |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
