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Present Status of the Icy Conglomerate Model

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Book cover Ices in the Solar System

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIC,volume 156))

Abstract

A brief history is presented of the concept that the nucleus of a comet is a discreet body, an icy conglomerate of solar-type materials that would be solid at low temperatures, ≪ 100 K. A summary describes briefly the observational success of the comet model, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The surprising aspect of the model is its usefulness in spite of its vagueness with regard not only to chemical composition but also to the physical structure of the nucleus, including such basic quantities as dimensions, density and albedo. Some emphasis will be placed on our increasing understanding of the morphology of comet nuclei.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, USA

    Fred L. Whipple

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  1. Fred L. Whipple
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  1. Laboratoire de Glaciologie du CNRS, Saint-Martin d’Heres, France

    Jürgen Klinger

  2. Observatorie de Nice, Nice, France

    Daniel Benest

  3. Observatoire de Meudon, Meudon, France

    Audouin Dollfus

  4. Astronomy Department, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, USA

    Roman Smoluchowski

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Whipple, F.L. (1985). Present Status of the Icy Conglomerate Model. In: Klinger, J., Benest, D., Dollfus, A., Smoluchowski, R. (eds) Ices in the Solar System. NATO ASI Series, vol 156. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5418-2_23

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