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arXiv 1909.01964astro-ph.EP
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解体的内向长周期彗星C/2019 J2

Disintegrating In-Bound Long-Period Comet C/2019 J2

David Jewitt, Jane Luu

摘要:

我们目前对解体的长周期彗星C/2019 J2(Palomar)进行了观测,以确定该物体的性质及其消亡的原因。这些数据与一个亚公里核分裂成质量或数量级为1 e9 kg的碎片云一致,峰值在UT 2019年5月24日+/-12美元。这是在近日点前56天,日心距离为1.9 AU。我们考虑潜在的解体机制。潮汐破坏被排除在外,因为彗星没有经过任何行星的罗氏球。撞击破坏是不可信的,因为彗星轨道是高度倾斜的(倾角105.1度),而且破坏发生在远离黄道的地方,那里的小行星是罕见的。升华产生的背压(0.02至0.4 N/m2)比彗星材料的抗压强度(30至150 N/m2)小几个数量级,因此并不重要。挥发物因升华而减少的速度太慢,以致于在下落的时间尺度上原子核不能活动。然而,我们发现,e-折叠的时间尺度的自旋的升华力矩的作用下的核是短于下落的时间,只要核半径小于0.4公里。因此,C/2019 J2的解体暂时被解释为由释气扭矩引起的亚公里核的旋转破裂。

英文摘要:

We present observations of the disintegrating long-period comet C/2019 J2 (Palomar) taken to determine the nature of the object and the cause of its demise. The data are consistent with break-up of a sub-kilometer nucleus into a debris cloud of mass or order 1e9 kg, peaking on UT 2019 May 24+/-$12. This is 56 days before perihelion and at a heliocentric distance of 1.9 AU. We consider potential mechanisms of disintegration. Tidal disruption is ruled-out, because the comet has not passed within the Roche sphere of any planet. Impact disruption is implausible, because the comet orbit is highly inclined (inclination 105.1 deg) and disruption occurred far above the ecliptic, where asteroids are rare. The back-pressure generated by sublimation (0.02 to 0.4 N/m2) is orders of magnitude smaller than the reported compressive strength (30 to 150 N/m2) of cometary material and, therefore, is of no importance. The depletion of volatiles by sublimation occurs too slowly to render the nucleus inactive on the timescale of infall. However, we find that the e-folding timescale for spin-up of the nucleus by the action of sublimation torques is shorter than the infall time, provided the nucleus radius is smaller than 0.4 km. Thus, the disintegration of C/2019 J2 is tentatively interpreted as the rotational disruption of a sub-kilometer nucleus caused by outgassing torques.

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