THE LUMINOSITY VARIATIONS OF COMET HEADS.
Abstract
The exact nature of the relations between solar activity and cometary brightness is still controversial. This is partly due to the sporadic and heterogeneous character of the observations material. The physical and chemical composition of cometary heads plays certainly a major role. As for the cometary outbursts Whitney's work has been reexamined under the assumption that the light emitted at the time of an outburst is due to scattering (instead of reflection) of solar radiation by small solid particles. We have assumed these particles to be spherical and of refractive index, resp. 1.50 (radius .001, .0001 and .00001 cm) and 1.38 - 1.49 i (radius .0001 and .00001 cm). The masses required to explain the luminosities of the halos are of the same order as those computed by Whitney. Hence the required energies are also of the same order as those in Whitney's paper. Our main conclusion agrees with Whitney's: it is very unlikely that solar particles are directly responsible for cometary outbursts. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 20, 1964
- Accession Number
- AD0606655
Entities
People
- L. Remy-battiau
Organizations
- University of Liège