A note on the total mass of comets in the solar system |
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Authors: | D A Mendis M L Marconi |
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Institution: | (1) Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences and Center for Astrophysics and Space Science, University of California, 92093 San Diego, La Jolla, CA, U.S.A. |
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Abstract: | The assumption that the very low albedo determined for Halley's comet is typical of all short period comets, taken together with the assumption that the average sizes of long and short period comets are approximately equal, leads to an increase in the total mass of comets in the solar system by almost two orders of magnitude. If gravitational ejection from the Uranus - Neptune zone during the later phases of planet formation is indeed responsible for the classical Oort cloud between 104–1015 AU, then the mass of comets in this transplanetary region during cosmogonie times has to exceed the combined masses of Uranus and Neptune by over an order of magnitude. Furthermore, if the recent arguments for as many as 1014 comets in an inner Oort cloud between ~40– 104AU are valid, then the total mass of comets in the solar system approaches 2% of a solar mass. |
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