The effect of internal inhomogeneity on the activity of comet nuclei – Application to Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko

We present thermal evolution calculations of inhomogeneous asymmetric initial configurations of a spherical model of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, using a fully 3-dimensional numerical code. The initial composition is amorphous H 2O ice and dust, in a “layered-pile” configuration, where layers di...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Icarus (New York, N.Y. 1962) N.Y. 1962), 2010-10, Vol.209 (2), p.753-765
Main Authors: Rosenberg, Eric D., Prialnik, Dina
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Comets
Comets, Nucleus
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:We present thermal evolution calculations of inhomogeneous asymmetric initial configurations of a spherical model of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, using a fully 3-dimensional numerical code. The initial composition is amorphous H 2O ice and dust, in a “layered-pile” configuration, where layers differing in ice/dust ratio and thermal properties extend over a fraction of the surface area and about 10 m in depth and may overlap. We analyze the effect of one such layer, as well as the combined effect of many layers, randomly distributed. We find that internal inhomogeneities affect both the surface temperature and the activity pattern of the comet. In particular, they may lead to outbursts at large heliocentric distances and also to activity on the night-side of the nucleus. The rates of ablation and depths of dust mantle and crystalline ice outer layer as functions of longitude and latitude are shown to be affected as well.
ISSN:0019-1035
1090-2643
DOI:10.1016/j.icarus.2010.03.037