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Collisional Processes in the Solar System pp 73–90Cite as

Cometary Dynamics

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Part of the book series: Astrophysics and Space Science Library ((ASSL,volume 261))

Abstract

Comets have played an important role in the history of the solar system. It is generally accepted that comets were among the first macroscopic objects to form in the outer solar nebula (Weidenschilling & Cuzzi 1993) and they contain critical information about giant planet formation (Lissauer & Stewart 1993). Comets therefore represent an important resource that allow us to study conditions that existed in parts of the solar nebula before the planets formed. In addition, comets have played a significant role in the surface geology of the solid planets and satellites because they are responsible for a significant fraction of the impact flux (Weissman 1985,Weissman1990, Zahnle et al. 1998), and may have even contributed to the late veneering of volatiles on the terrestrial planets (Chyba 1990; Chyba et al. 1995).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Space Studies, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado, USA, 80302

    Harold F. Levison

  2. Department of Physics, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, K7L 3N6

    Martin J. Duncan

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  1. Harold F. Levison
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  2. Martin J. Duncan
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics, Moscow, Russia

    Mikhail Ya. Marov

  2. Astronomical Observatory, Uppsala, Sweden

    Hans Rickman

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© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Levison, H.F., Duncan, M.J. (2001). Cometary Dynamics. In: Marov, M.Y., Rickman, H. (eds) Collisional Processes in the Solar System. Astrophysics and Space Science Library, vol 261. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0712-2_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0712-2_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-3832-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-010-0712-2

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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