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On the Sizes of Cometary Nuclei
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 August 2015
Abstract
Three methods have been developed for determining the sizes of cometary nuclei. They are all based on the spotted model for an icy nucleus. The first method follows from the relationship between the icy (unshielded) area and the total absolute brightness, although the quantity determined is actually a function of the radius and the shielding coefficient. The second method is based on analysis of the secular brightness decrease and the assumption that it is possible to establish when a new surface layer of dust starts to form; in practice, this method is found to be applicable only in the cases of P/Pons-Winnecke and P/Tuttle. The third method is also based on the secular brightness decrease, and it requires some assumption about the volume fraction of dust in the nucleus.
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- Part IV/Physical Processes in Comets
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- Copyright © Reidel 1972