Heat content and evolution of cometary nuclei

Abstract

The heat flux into cometary nuclei at various distances from the sun, before and after perihelion, is investigated for both the isothermal case and that of the fixed subsolar point. It is found that the heat flux may be a large fraction of the incident total heat input, so that surface temperature and the associated evaporation rate are lower than usually calculated, and that the effect depends on the porosity of the nucleus. An ideal, initially spherical and homogeneous nucleus cannot remain isothermal, so that it must develop surface nonuniformities through localized phase changes, evaporation, and breakaway. The splitting of comets as far as 9 AU from the sun may be explained in terms of the heating of a CO2-rich inclusion in the nucleus.