ON THE RATE AT WHICH COMETS SPLIT

被引:89
作者
CHEN, J
JEWITT, D
机构
[1] Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822
关键词
D O I
10.1006/icar.1994.1061
中图分类号
P1 [天文学];
学科分类号
0704 ;
摘要
We use time-resolved charge-coupled device (CCD) images to assess the frequency of splitting of comets. When blinked on a computer, the CCD images provide relatively high and uniform sensitivity to comoving companions. We find that 3 comets are split in a sample of 49, and estimate that the cometary splitting rate is S approximately 0.01 per year per comet or larger. This large rate suggests that splitting may be an important destructive process for the cometary nuclei. (C) 1994 Academic Press, Inc.
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页码:265 / 271
页数:7
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