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Surface Morphology of Cometary Nuclei
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 12 April 2016
Abstract.
The first in situ observations of a cometary nucleus by imaging techniques on board the VEGA and Giotto spacecraft in 1986 opened the possibility of directly studying the properties and structures of a cometary surface. This new information, combined with results from other experiments made by these spacecraft and with results from laboratory experiments and Earth-bound radar observations, gave a better basis for coming from speculation to more precise knowledge in describing properties of cometary surfaces and related activity. It is the aim of this paper to discuss the different views developed to understand properties of cometary surfaces and to propose a consistent model for understanding topological surface properties and related cometary activity. We accomplish this by extending former hypotheses and approaches and making them more precise in the light of the new and more complex data.
- Type
- Section IV: The Cometary Nucleus
- Information
- International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 116 , Issue 2: Comets in the Post-Halley Era , 1991 , pp. 761 - 767
- Copyright
- Copyright © Kluwer 1991