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Splitting of Periodic Comets

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 August 2017

Giuseppe Forti
Giuseppe Forti*
Affiliation:
Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, 50125 Firenze, Italy

Abstract

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Among the comets that were observed to break in two or more fragments, only a few of them are periodic. So far the dynamic study of the relative motion of a secondary nucleus with respect to the primary has supposed that a cometary fragment is subject to a small and continuous radial nongravitational force after separation at rest. This force acts against the solar attraction and varies according to an inverse square law. A small impulse at break up may also be invoked in some case. A different approach is followed in this paper when dealing with a fragment of a periodic comet: after separation the motion of a secondary nucleus is characterized by nongravitational forces which vary according to the same g(r) law currently used for the primary.

Results of the study of comets P/Biela and P/du Toit-Hartley show that the motion of their fragments after separation is characterized by nongravitational parameters which are larger than those of the parent bodies. Both fragments lasted for about 2 full revolutions and three returns.

Keywords

CometsSplittingNongravitational Forces
Type
Part V - Comets
Information
Symposium - International Astronomical Union , Volume 152: Chaos, Resonance and Collective Dynamical Phenomena in the Solar System , 1992 , pp. 281 - 285
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1992 

References

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