comet soda pop, if so much debris and dust falls off a comet why doesn'y it just get smaller and disappear? | |
notts heat User ID: 44023682 United Kingdom 07/25/2013 08:33 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: comet soda pop, if so much debris and dust falls off a comet why doesn'y it just get smaller and disappear? Good question op, would love someone in the know to answer this! Its late here in the uk, and ive just finished work. Repost tomorrow and i will try and help find the answer, maybe try and get dr astro or Paige involved |
Anonymous Coward User ID: 44039600 United States 07/25/2013 08:40 PM Report Abusive Post Report Copyright Violation | Re: comet soda pop, if so much debris and dust falls off a comet why doesn'y it just get smaller and disappear? In the article, "‘Soda pop’ comet has tons of sizzle", it states: Quoting: Anonymous Coward 44025363 ( [link to www.futurity.org] “We estimate ISON is emitting about 2.2 million pounds of what is most likely carbon dioxide gas and about 120 million pounds of dust every day,” says Carey Lisse, leader of NASA’s Comet ISON Observation Campaign. So, in one year or 365 days the comet will have emitted 43 billion 800 million pounds of "dust". (365 days X 120,000,000) The article states that the size of Soda Pop: "Comet ISON (officially known as C/2012 S1) is less than 3 miles in diameter, about the size of a small mountain, and weighs between 7 billion and 7 trillion pounds. Because the comet is still very far away, its true size and density have not been determined accurately." So, even at the higher end of the estimate of 7 trillion pounds, wouldn't the comet be "gone" after just 159 years. That is a concept I could never understand, if all of the debris is trailing the comet comes from the comet, why don't they eventually just disappear? I find it hard to believe that they can't tell the difference between 7 billion and 7 trillion. It sounds like they don't know anything. |