A note on the survival of the sungrazing comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) within the Roche limit
B Gundlach, J Blum, YV Skorov, HU Keller - arXiv preprint arXiv …, 2012 - arxiv.org
B Gundlach, J Blum, YV Skorov, HU Keller
arXiv preprint arXiv:1203.1808, 2012•arxiv.orgIn this work, a novel approach to explain the survival of sungrazing comets within the Roche
limit is presented. It is shown that in the case of low tensile strength of the cometary nucleus,
tidal splitting of the nucleus can be prevented by the reaction force caused by the
sublimation of the icy constituents. The survival of Comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) within the
Roche limit of the Sun is, thus, the result of high tensile strength of the nucleus, or the result
of the reaction force caused by the strong outgassing of the icy constituents near the Sun.
limit is presented. It is shown that in the case of low tensile strength of the cometary nucleus,
tidal splitting of the nucleus can be prevented by the reaction force caused by the
sublimation of the icy constituents. The survival of Comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) within the
Roche limit of the Sun is, thus, the result of high tensile strength of the nucleus, or the result
of the reaction force caused by the strong outgassing of the icy constituents near the Sun.
In this work, a novel approach to explain the survival of sungrazing comets within the Roche limit is presented. It is shown that in the case of low tensile strength of the cometary nucleus, tidal splitting of the nucleus can be prevented by the reaction force caused by the sublimation of the icy constituents. The survival of Comet C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) within the Roche limit of the Sun is, thus, the result of high tensile strength of the nucleus, or the result of the reaction force caused by the strong outgassing of the icy constituents near the Sun.
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