Numerical Studies of Surface Erosion in a Multi-Component Comet Nucleus

Abstract

Thermal modeling is an essential tool for investigations of cometary activity and other typical cometary phenomena. Numerous approaches have been published so far but the feedback of surface erosion caused by ice sublimation to the thermal state of the nucleus is commonly neglected. However, near perihelion the characteristic velocity of surface erosion can be considerably higher than that of heat diffusion. Thus, depending on basic parameters, like the thermal conduction coefficient, it is very well conceivable that surface erosion leads to a significantly less heated nucleus. In oder to address this hypothesis we developed a novel thermal conduction code. Numerically speaking we had to solve an initial-boundary value problem with moving boundaries, the so called Stefan problem. First results are discussed.