Particulate Mass Loss from Comet Hale-Bopp

Abstract

Large particles may be present in comets in numbers sufficient to dominate the total mass of the coma. These large particles are not readily sensed by conventional (optical - infrared) techniques but are prominent at submillimeter wavelengths. Images taken using a new camera sensitive to submillimeter wavelengths reveal that comet Hale-Bopp was a prodigious source of particulate matter, releasing dust at 2000 metric tons per second when near perihelion and contributing 3 × 1013 kg to the interplanetary dust complex. The dust production rate exceeded that of gas (mostly water) by a factor greater than 5.