Earth Sciences 1086F/G Chapter Notes - Chapter 18: Jan Oort, Solar Wind, Scattered Disc
5 Aug 2020
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Sun, the frozen gases (water, ammonia, methane, and a few others) begin to vaporise, leaving visible tracks across space. They contain the remains of materials used in the formation of stars and planets, holding volatile, carbon- based rich elements that are likely to provide clues about the nature of our solar. Fortunately, such ideas are not supported by science. Life (as we know it) requires temperatures where water can exist in its liquid form. Some rare, single celled organisms on earth are know to survive at temperatures as low as -30 c, but that"s much warmer than the temperature of a comet nucleus (-50 to -250 c). The low density suggests that comet nuclei are not solid objects. Email prof it is solid apparently: coma, when the nucleus approaches the sun, sunlight warms the surface and the solid ice turns to vapor and produces an atmosphere surrounding the nucleus known as the coma.
