Neutral hydrogen in cometary comas.
The strong L alpha radiation observed recently in comets Tago-Sato-Kosaka and Bennett can be explained in terms of the resonant scattering of solar L alpha radiation on neutral hydrogen formed by the photodissociation of H2O which is vaporized from a nucleus having an ice core. A complete hydrodynam...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Other/Unknown Material |
| Language: | unknown |
| Published: |
1972
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://ntrs.nasa.gov/search.jsp?R=19730027940 |
| Summary: | The strong L alpha radiation observed recently in comets Tago-Sato-Kosaka and Bennett can be explained in terms of the resonant scattering of solar L alpha radiation on neutral hydrogen formed by the photodissociation of H2O which is vaporized from a nucleus having an ice core. A complete hydrodynamic description of an atmosphere composed of H2O and its daughter products OH, H and O coupled through frictional interaction as well as production and loss processes is given. Numerical results are computed in a typical case, and it is found that a temperature of about 3000 K for the cometary atmosphere provides the best fit with observation. |
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