ALBERT

Description: The icy-conglomerate model of comet nuclei has dominated all others since its introduction. It provided a basis for understanding the non-gravitational motions of comets which had perplexed dynamicists up to that time, and provided a focus for understanding cometary composition and origin. The image of comets as dirty snowballs was quickly adopted. Comet nuclei including their trail mass loss rates and refractory to volatile mass ratios are described.

Description: The IAS satellite's extensive observations of Comet Tempel 2 dust trail suggest that it is composed of particles of greater-than-1 mm diameter, whose velocities relative to the comet (assuming isotropic emission) are in the range of several m/sec. Excess color temperatures obtained relative to a blackbody indicate that either (1) the particles are large enough to support a temperature gradient over their surfaces, or (2) a small-particle population exists whose diameters are smaller than 100 A. If these small particles had not originated from the large particles, their acceleration to km/sec velocities by the gas outflow would have prevented their ejection into trail orbits.

Description: Cometary dust trails furnish insight into the nature, origin, and evolution of comets, as well as into the relationship of comets to both asteroids and the zodiacal dust complex. A several years-long effort has been made to identify all dust trails detected over the course of IRAS observations, as well as to ascertain the comets' parent bodies. On the basis of a total of eight trails associated with known short-period comets, it is inferred that the trail phenomenon is common to all comets of this type; it is further conjectured that spaceborne IR detectors will observe a different ensemble of trails, as other comets pass perihelion.

Description: Observations of cometary dust trails and zodiacal dust bands, discovered by the Infrared Astronomical Satellite (IRAS) were analyzed in a continuing effort to understand their nature and relationship to comets, asteroids, and processes effecting those bodies. A survey of all trails observed by IRAS has been completed, and analysis of this phenomenon continues. A total of 8 trails have been associated with known short-period comets (Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Encke, Gunn, Kopff, Pons-Winnecke, Schwassmann-Wachmann 1, Tempel 1, and Tempel 2), and a few faint trails have been detected which are not associated with any known comet. It is inferred that all short-period comets may have trails, and that the trails detected were seen as a consequence of observational selection effects. Were IRAS launched today, it would likely observe a largely different set of trails. The Tempel 2 trail exhibits a small but significant excess in color temperature relative to a blackbody at the same heliocentric distance. This excess may be due to the presence of a population of small, low-beta particles deriving from large particles within the trail, or a temperature gradient over the surface of large trail particles. Trails represent the very first stage in the formation and evolution of a meteor stream, and may also be the primary mechanism by which comets contribute to the interplanetary dust complex. A mathematical model of the spatial distribution of orbitally evolved collisional debris was developed which reproduces the zodiacal dust band phenomena and was used in the analysis of dust band observations made by IRAS. This has resulted in the principal zodiacal dust bands being firmly related to the principal Hirayama asteroid families. In addition, evidence for the collisional diffusion of the orbital elements of the dust particles has been found in the case of dust generated in the Eos asteroid family.