Why Are There No Interstellar Comets?
Explore the source record for details and available documents.
comets icy planetesimals Oort cloud↗
SEARCH · Search NASA
Results for “comets icy planetesimals Oort cloud”
Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.
Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.
From icy planetesimals to outer planets and comets
The growth of Neptune and Uranus and the origin of the Oort comet cloud are simulated numerically, applying the planetesimal-growth model developed by Greenberg et al. (1978) for the terrestrial planets. The results of 12 experiments are presented in graphs and tables and discussed in detail. In the model which best fits observations, the planets grow relatively quickly from icy planetesimals of diameter 10 km or less which form by gravitational clumping of grains as they settle nonhomologously to the midplane of the solar system; the comets then represent unaltered remnants of the original planetesimal populations in the zone.
Greenberg, R.↗
Properties of Cometary Nuclei
Active long- and short-period comets contribute about 20 to 30 % of the major impactors on the Earth. Cometary nuclei are irregular bodies, typically a few to ten kilometers in diameter, with masses in the range 10(sup 15) to 10(sup 18) g. The nuclei are composed of an intimate mixture of volatile ices, mostly water ice and hydrocarbon and silicate grains. The composition is the closest to solar composition of any known bodies in the solar system. The nuclei appear to be weakly bonded agglomerations of smaller icy planetesimals, and material strengths estimated from observed tidal disruption events are fairly low, typically 10(sup 2) to 10(sup 4) N m(sup -2). Density estimates range between 0.2 and 1.2 g cm(sup -3) but are very poorly determined, if at all. As comets age they develop nonvolitile crusts on their surfaces which eventually render them inactive, similar in appearance to carbonaceous asteroids. However, dormant comets may continue to show sporadic activity and outbursts for some time before they become truly extinct. The source of the long-period comets is the Oort cloud, a vast spherical cloud of perhaps 10(sup 12) to 10(sup 13) comets surrounding the solar system and extending to interstellar distances. The likely source for short-period comets is the Kuiper belt. a ring of perhaps 10(sup 8) to 10(sup 10) remnant icy planetesimals beyond the orbit of Neptune, though some short-period comets may also be long-period comets from the Oort cloud which have been perturbed into short-period orbits.
comets nuclei volitile ices Oort cloud Kuiper belt↗
Collisional Processing of Proto-Comets in the Primordial Solar Nebula
We find that icy planetesimals (proto-comets) in the giant planets region of the solar nebula will be collisionally eroded on timescales shorter than their dynamical lifetimes for ejection to the Oort cloud.
Stern, S. Alan↗
Comet thermal modeling
The past year was one of tremendous activity because of the appearance of Halley's Comet. Observations of the comet were collected from a number of sources and compared with the detailed predictions of the comet thermal modeling program. Spacecraft observations of key physical parameters for cometary nucleus were incorporated into the thermal model and new cases run. These results have led to a much better understanding of physical processes on the nucleus and have pointed the way for further improvements to the modeling program. A model for the large-scale structure of cometary nuclei was proposed in which comets were envisioned as loosely bound agglomerations of smaller icy planetesimals, essentially a rubble pile of primordial dirty snowballs. In addition, a study of the physical history of comets was begun, concentrating on processes during formation and in the Oort cloud which would alter the volatile and nonvolatile materials in cometary nuclei from their pristine state before formation.
Weissman, Paul R.↗
High Silicate Crystalline-to-Amorphous Ratios in Comets C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) and Hale-Bopp
Crystalline silicates, by their apparent absence in the ISM, are dust grains that experienced high temperatures in the solar nebula. Mg-rich crystalline silicates formed either by condensation from hot nebular gases (1450 K) or by the annealing of Mg-rich amorphous silicates (approximately 1000 K) in shocks in the 5-10AU region or by radial transport into and out of the hot inner zones, e.g., T(sub d) greater than 1000K at r(sub h) less than 5AU, 10(exp -6) -10(exp -5) solar mass per year, alpha = 10(exp -4) of the early solar nebula. Mg-rich crystalline silicates are found in interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and produce IR spectral features in many Oort cloud comets. In May 2004, we discovered strong crystalline silicate features in the dynamically new Oort cloud comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT). Thermal emission modeling of comets Q4 and C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) demonstrate that both these comets have similar, high silicate crystalline-toamorphous ratios of 2.4 and 2.1, respectively, indicating that these icy planetesimals aggregated from similar reservoirs of material or that crystalline silicates were widely distributed within the comet-forming zone. This argues for efficient annealing mechanisms and radial mixing.
Wooden, D. H.↗
High Silicate Crystalline-to-Amorphous Ratios in Comets C/2001 Q4 (NEAT) and Hale-Bopp
Crystalline silicates, by their apparent absence in the ISM, are dust grains that experienced high temperatures in the solar nebula. Mg-rich crystalline silicates formed either by condensation from hot nebular gases (1450 K) or by the annealing of Mg-rich amorphous silicates (approx. 1000 K) in shocks in the 5-10 AU region or by radial transport into and out of the hot inner zones, e.g., T(sub d) > 1000 K at r(sub h) < 5 AU, 10(exp -6) - 10(exp -5) M(sub O)/yr, alpha = 10(exp -4) of the early solar nebula. Mg-rich crystalline silicates are found in interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) and produce IR spectral features in many Oort cloud comets. In May 2004, we discovered strong crystalline silicate features in the dynamically new Oort cloud comet C/2001 Q4 (NEAT). Thermal emission modeling of comets Q4 and C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) demonstrate that both these comets have similar, high silicate crystalline-to-amorphous ratios of 2.4 and 2.1, respectively, indicating that these icy planetesimals aggregated from similar reservoirs of material or that crystalline silicates were widely distributed within the comet-forming zone. This argues for efficient annealing mechanisms and radial mixing.
Wooden, D. H.↗
The Role of Comets as Possible Contributors of Water and Prebiotic Organics to Terrestrial Planets
The question of exogenous delivery of organics and water to Earth and other young planets is of critical importance for understanding the origin of Earth's water, and for assessing the prospects for existence of Earth-like exo-planets. Viewed from a cosmic perspective, Earth is a dry planet yet its oceans are enriched in deuterium by a large factor relative to nebular hydrogen. Can comets have delivered Earth's water? The deuterium content of comets is key to ,assessing their role as contributors of water to Earth. Icy bodies today reside in two distinct reservoirs, the Oort Cloud and the Kuiper Disk (divided into the classical disk, the scattered disk, and the detached or extended disk populations). Orbital parameters can indicate the cosmic storage reservoir for a given comet. Knowledge of the diversity of comets within a reservoir assists in assessing their possible contribution to early Earth, but requires quantitative knowledge of their components - dust and ice. Strong gradients in temperature and chemistry in the proto-planetary disk, coupled with dynamical dispersion of an outer disk of icy planetesimals, imply that comets from KD and OC reservoirs should have diverse composition. The primary volatiles (native to the nucleus) provide the preferred metric for building a taxonomy for comets, and the number of comets so quantified is growing rapidly. Taxonomies based on native species (primary volatiles) are now beginning to emerge [1, 2, 3]. The measurement of cosmic parameters such as the nuclear spin temperatures for H2O, NH3 and CH4, and of enrichment factors for isotopologues (D/H in water and hydrogen cyanide, N-14/N-15 in CN and hydrogen cyanide) provide additional tests of the origin of cometary material. I will provide an overview of these aspects, and implications for the origin of Earth's water and prebiotic organics.
Mumma, Michael J.↗