On the existence of small comets and their interactions with planets

✍ Scribed by J. C. Brandt; M. F. A'Hearn; C. E. Randall; D. G. Schleicher; E. M. Shoemaker; A. I. F. Stewart

• Publisher: Springer Netherlands
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 451 KB
• Volume: 72
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1573-0794
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00117524

✦ Synopsis

Arguments are presented for a substantial, unexplored population of comets with radii less than 1 km. Known examples confirm this population and extrapolation of any plausible size-distribution function indicates large numbers. However, their accurate numbers, orbital characteristics, and physical properties are unknown. Thus, even though the small comets may be the most frequent cometary bodies impacting the planets, a quantitative evaluation is not currently possible. We advocate an optimized, dedicated search program to characterize this population.