Comet Knudsen Layers

Abstract

This paper reviews some important results about Knudsen layers obtained in theoretical gas kinetics research in the last few decades, focusing on the weak and strong evaporation problems in two-surface, half-space, and spherical geometries. Furthermore, the application of such results in cometary science is reviewed. In order to illustrate some properties of the half-space evaporation problem for water ice surfaces at temperatures relevant for active comets, a number of numerical Direct Simulation Monte Carlo calculations are presented.