On the Role of Dust Mass Loss in the Evolution of Comets and Dusty Disk Systems

We present the results of an ongoing optical/thermal infraredphotometric imaging survey of thedust mass loss and nuclear size ofcomets. We find an evolution with time of the kind of dust emittedfrom a comet's surface. Our results indicate that the mass loss ratefrom the short period comets alone is enough to supply the interplanetary dust (IPD) complexagainst losses. We conclude that the nature of the IPD cloud haschanged over time, with small particles dominating early, and largerparticles dominating in the present era. The rate of destruction of short period (SP)comets due to sublimation mass loss is found to be low compared to therate of surface mantle formation, but fast compared to the rate of their dynamical removal from the inner solar system.