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Next: Thermal conductivity of amorphous Up: No Title Previous: Characteristics of a Cometary

Key Physical Quantities in the Thermal History

Physical quantities that govern the thermal history of the ice of a cometary nucleus is 1) thermal conductivity of amorphous ice, 2) bulk thermal conductivity of the nucleus, 3) the rate of heating by decay of radiogenic nuclides, which are contained in the silicate core, and 4) latent heat released at transition of amorphous ice to crystalline ice. We shall discuss these quantities in the following subsections.




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Mon Sep 16 16:23:29 JST 1996