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Energy source for comet outbursts

Abstract

A COMET nucleus is generally recognised as an icy conglomerate, as was originally proposed by Whipple1. The Orbiting Astronomical Observatory observations of Comet Tago-Sato-Kosaka2 and Comet Bennett3 support the current ideas that H2O is a major component of comets. If comets were indeed formed through an accretion mechanism at distances of many AU from the Sun, what is the nature of the resulting form of water ice?

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PATASHNICK, H., RUPPRECHT, G. & SCHUERMAN, D. Energy source for comet outbursts. Nature 250, 313–314 (1974). https://doi.org/10.1038/250313a0

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