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Title:
The mass of the Oort cloud
Authors:
Weissman, P. R.
Affiliation:
AA(California Institute of Technology, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Earth and Space Sciences Div., Pasadena, CA)
Publication:
Astronomy and Astrophysics, vol. 118, no. 1, Feb. 1983, p. 90-94. NASA-supported research. (A&A; Homepage)
Publication Date:
02/1983
Category:
Astrophysics; Comets
Origin:
STI
NASA/STI Keywords:
Comets, Mass Distribution, Oort Cloud, Solar Corona, Solar System, Brightness Distribution, Evolution (Development), Magnitude
Keywords:
COMETS, SOURCE, OORT CLOUD, MARS, CALCULATIONS, MAGNITUDES, ACCRETION, BRIGHTNESS, COMET NUCLEI, SIZE, LONG-PERIOD COMETS, DATA, PROCEDURE, SHORT-PERIOD COMETS, ORIGIN, HYPOTHESES, FRAGMENTS, EJECTA
Bibliographic Code:
1983A&A...118...90W

Abstract

The total mass of comets in the Oort cloud is calculated. The distribution of cometary masses is found based on the observed distribution of cometary magnitudes corrected for observational selection effects by Everhart (1967), and a derived relationship between brightness and nucleus mass. A cloud population of 1.4 trillion comets brighter than an absolute magnitude of 11 as found by Weissman (1982) is used. The estimated total mass is 1.9 earth masses. The probable error in the estimate is about one order of magnitude. Most of the mass of the Oort cloud is concentrated in the size range of the observed long-period comets. The mass estimate is consistent with either cometary formation among the outer planets, or in satellite fragments of the primordial solar nebula.

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