Huge comet outburst reported, 17P/Holmes |
Huge comet outburst reported, 17P/Holmes |
Oct 24 2007, 02:11 PM
Post
#1
|
|
Junior Member Group: Members Posts: 30 Joined: 30-May 05 Member No.: 396 |
I didnt know in which category of the forum this should be reported:
http://www.fototime.com/%7BE39A64F6-CE74-4...%7D/picture.JPG http://perso.orange.fr/fkometes/images/com...422-9x5sz05.JPG Comet 17p/Holmes from 15 mag to 3!! Already visible to naked eye! |
|
|
Oct 30 2007, 05:06 AM
Post
#2
|
|
Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 3419 Joined: 9-February 04 From: Minneapolis, MN, USA Member No.: 15 |
Using Ed's excellent video as my reference, it looks to me like the nucleus -- the actual cometary body -- is located significantly to the upper left of the center of the apparently spherical coma around the comet.
In addition, although my eyes may be playing tricks on me, I can convince myself that I see the faintest of traces of linear features within the coma emanating from the nucleus "in" to the somewhat denser center of the coma. I ask myself about the dynamics of such a violent eruption. I'd have to guess that such a cloud of gas and dust, which has expanded to be larger than Jupiter in physical size, would have to have quite a bit of mass entrained within it. In other words, it seems like an *awful* lot of mass shot off that comet all at once. And if the faint linear features I think I can see are really there, then the mass shot out in a pretty straight linear column, forming a center of an expanding cloud at the place where the comet *was* when the explosion occurred, not anywhere near where the comet is *now*... the energy of the release being sufficient to separate the comet from the center of the expanding cloud. Are there models out there that allow for such an energetic release of material from a comet? Could you actually get the pressures and temperatures in the ices and dust and rocks that make up the comet for an explosion of this magnitude? Or do we need to be thinking about impact processes, here? Obviously, you can postulate an impactor within the Solar System both big enough and with a large enough relative speed in re the comet to have done this. Can you also postulate an endogenous process that would account for it as easily? -the other Doug -------------------- “The trouble ain't that there is too many fools, but that the lightning ain't distributed right.” -Mark Twain
|
|
|
Lo-Fi Version | Time is now: 27th September 2024 - 01:13 AM |
RULES AND GUIDELINES Please read the Forum Rules and Guidelines before posting. IMAGE COPYRIGHT |
OPINIONS AND MODERATION Opinions expressed on UnmannedSpaceflight.com are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of UnmannedSpaceflight.com or The Planetary Society. The all-volunteer UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderation team is wholly independent of The Planetary Society. The Planetary Society has no influence over decisions made by the UnmannedSpaceflight.com moderators. |
SUPPORT THE FORUM Unmannedspaceflight.com is funded by the Planetary Society. Please consider supporting our work and many other projects by donating to the Society or becoming a member. |