Evolution of Cometary Debris: Physical Aspects

Abstract

AbstractCometary dust particles, larger grains, and fragments as products of the disintegration processes are subjected to gravitational and nongravitational forces, causing their dynamical and physical evolution. Critical analysis of some fairly large differences in the observational data obtained for the mass productions, dust/gas ratios, cut-off masses, particle size/mass distributions, erosion factors, bulk densities, and other physical properties of particles leads to a more complex view of the cometary matter than is assumed in some of the current models. This view allows reasonable limits for the dynamical and physical interrelations between the debris and its parent bodies to be obtained.