{"id":{"repo_id":"purdue-thes","oai_identifier":"oai:docs.lib.purdue.edu:open_access_dissertations-2705"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/purdue-thes/oai:docs.lib.purdue.edu:open_access_dissertations-2705","repository":{"repo_id":"purdue-thes","name":"Purdue University","base_url":"https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/do/oai/"},"display":{"title":"ON THE INTERACTION OF SUBLIMATING GAS WITH COMETARY BODIES","abstract":"Sublimation of volatiles is a defining process of comet nuclei, and profoundly affects their dynamics, structure, and appearance. Central to understanding the processes by which comets formed and subsequently evolved is a careful computation of this sublimation pressure as a function of heliocentric distance. Unlike previous efforts, I develop a thermodynamic method to numerically compute the sublimation pressure of any species from limited knowledge of its physical properties. I then describe a novel cometary disruption mechanism in which this sublimation pressure induces differential stresses within the body of the nucleus that exceed its material strength, resulting in structural failure and breakup of the nucleus. I show that this mechanism is consistent with the behavior of Comet ISON (C/2012 S1), and use it to estimate the cohesive strength of ISON’s nucleus, a first for a Long-Period Comet.","abstract_html":"Sublimation of volatiles is a defining process of comet nuclei, and profoundly affects their dynamics, structure, and appearance. Central to understanding the processes by which comets formed and subsequently evolved is a careful computation of this sublimation pressure as a function of heliocentric distance. Unlike previous efforts, I develop a thermodynamic method to numerically compute the sublimation pressure of any species from limited knowledge of its physical properties. I then describe a novel cometary disruption mechanism in which this sublimation pressure induces differential stresses within the body of the nucleus that exceed its material strength, resulting in structural failure and breakup of the nucleus. I show that this mechanism is consistent with the behavior of Comet ISON (C/2012 S1), and use it to estimate the cohesive strength of ISON’s nucleus, a first for a Long-Period Comet.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Steckloff, Jordan Kenneth"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Physics & Astronomy","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Henry J Melosh","David Minton","Marc Caffee","Rafael Lang"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2015,"date_issued":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2015-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:54:44Z","subjects":["comet","dust","gas","nucleus","striae","sublimation"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/1489","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Henry J Melosh","David Minton","Marc Caffee","Rafael Lang"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Steckloff, Jordan Kenneth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Physics & Astronomy"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["comet","dust","gas","nucleus","striae","sublimation"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/1489"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Sublimation of volatiles is a defining process of comet nuclei, and profoundly affects their dynamics, structure, and appearance. Central to understanding the processes by which comets formed and subsequently evolved is a careful computation of this sublimation pressure as a function of heliocentric distance. Unlike previous efforts, I develop a thermodynamic method to numerically compute the sublimation pressure of any species from limited knowledge of its physical properties. I then describe a novel cometary disruption mechanism in which this sublimation pressure induces differential stresses within the body of the nucleus that exceed its material strength, resulting in structural failure and breakup of the nucleus. I show that this mechanism is consistent with the behavior of Comet ISON (C/2012 S1), and use it to estimate the cohesive strength of ISON’s nucleus, a first for a Long-Period Comet."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["ON THE INTERACTION OF SUBLIMATING GAS WITH COMETARY BODIES"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Henry J Melosh","David Minton","Marc Caffee","Rafael Lang"],"dc:creator":["Steckloff, Jordan Kenneth"],"dc:description.abstract":["Sublimation of volatiles is a defining process of comet nuclei, and profoundly affects their dynamics, structure, and appearance. Central to understanding the processes by which comets formed and subsequently evolved is a careful computation of this sublimation pressure as a function of heliocentric distance. Unlike previous efforts, I develop a thermodynamic method to numerically compute the sublimation pressure of any species from limited knowledge of its physical properties. I then describe a novel cometary disruption mechanism in which this sublimation pressure induces differential stresses within the body of the nucleus that exceed its material strength, resulting in structural failure and breakup of the nucleus. I show that this mechanism is consistent with the behavior of Comet ISON (C/2012 S1), and use it to estimate the cohesive strength of ISON’s nucleus, a first for a Long-Period Comet."],"dc:identifier":["https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_dissertations/1489"],"dc:subject":["comet","dust","gas","nucleus","striae","sublimation"],"dc:title":["ON THE INTERACTION OF SUBLIMATING GAS WITH COMETARY BODIES"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Physics & Astronomy"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:54:44Z"}