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Small comets: Implications for interplanetary Lyman α
Author(s) -
Donahue T. M.
Publication year - 1987
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/gl014i003p00213
Subject(s) - interplanetary dust cloud , interplanetary spaceflight , astrobiology , interplanetary medium , interplanetary space , physics , solar system , astronomy , solar wind , astrophysics , plasma , nuclear physics
If small comets are as numerous in the inner solar system as Frank et al. [1986a] have recently proposed, large and easily detectable amounts of hydrogen would be generated in interplanetary space. Inhibition of water vapor production by a factor of 3 × 10 −9 by very thick dust mantles would be necessary to prevent excitation of a detectable interplanetary Lyman α glow. Other optical problems associated with the cometesimals are also discussed.