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An icy-glue model of cometary nuclei

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Abstract

Since 1950 a number of models have been proposed to explain the observations of comets. For the most part, the icy conglomerate model of Whipple1 has been the standard which others have followed. In light of the recent images made of comet Halley, by the Vega and Giotto spacecraft, we suggest here that the nucleus is composed of rather large (tens of centimetres to hundreds of metres) porous refractory boulders, ‘cemented’ together with an ice–dust grain mix of the icy conglomerate type. This model retains the advantages of the icy conglomerate formalism on a local level, and also introduces a new global framework. We discuss the model in terms of the improving knowledge about comets, the creation of the nucleus in the cosmogonic sense, and expectations of the future analysis of data and observations.

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Author notes

  1. Tamas I. Gombosi

    Present address: Space Physics Research Laboratory, Space Research Building, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109, USA

  2. Harry L. F. Houpis

    Present address: Centre of Astrophysics and Space Science, University of California, San Diego, California, 92093, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Central Research Institute for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, H-1525, Budapest, 114, POB 49, Hungary

    Tamas I. Gombosi & Harry L. F. Houpis

Authors
  1. Tamas I. Gombosi
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  2. Harry L. F. Houpis
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Gombosi, T., Houpis, H. An icy-glue model of cometary nuclei. Nature 324, 43–44 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/324043a0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/324043a0

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