Gas release in comet nuclei.

Abstract

The evolution of a comet nucleus is investigated, taking into account the crystallization process by which the gas trapped in the ice is released to flow through the porous ice matrix. The equations of conservation of the energy and of the masses of ice and gas are solved throughout the nucleus, to obtain the evolution of the temperature, gas pressure and density profiles. A spherical nucleus composed of cold, porous amorphous ice, with 10% of CO trapped in it, serves as initial model. Several values of density (porosity) and pore size are considered. For each combination of parameters the model is evolved for 20-30 revolutions in comet P/Halley's orbit. Two aspects of the release of gas upon crystallization are analyzed and discussed: (a) the resulting continuous outward flux with high peaks at the time of crystallization, which is a cyclic process in the low-density models and sporadic in the high-density ones; (b) the internal pressures obtained down to depths of a few tens to approximately 200 m (depending on parameters), that are found to exceed the compressional strength of cometary ice. As a result, both cracking and explosions of the overlying ice layer and ejection of gas and ice/dust grains are expected to follow crystallization. They should appear as outbursts or sudden brightening of the comet. The model of 0.2 g cm-3 density is found to reproduce quite well many of the light-curve and activity characteristics of comet P/Halley.