cometary outburst
Quick Summary
A cometary outburst is a sudden, significant increase in a comet's activity, making it appear much brighter. This phenomenon is thought to be caused by internal processes within the comet's nucleus.
Cometary nuclei are small, icy bodies composed of water ice, dust, and organic materials. When a comet approaches the Sun, these ices sublimate, turning into gas and carrying dust away to form the comet's atmosphere, or coma.
One theory for outbursts suggests that as amorphous ice within the nucleus warms, it transforms into crystalline ice. This transition releases energy and can cause a sudden release of gas and dust. Another possibility is the "rubble pile" model, where a comet's loosely aggregated structure might fracture, leading to an outburst. These events can dramatically increase a comet's brightness, sometimes by a million times.1
Ask Britannica AI about this topic
Britannica doesn't have a full article on this topic, so we've curated a list of our relevant coverage.
cometCometary nuclei…may be one source of cometary outbursts—sharp increases in cometary activity that appear to occur randomly. It can likely explain the unusual brightness of dynamically new comets as they approach the Sun for the first time. New comets likely experience the amorphous-to-crystalline ice phase transition at between 5 and 7…
Read More…may be one source of cometary outbursts—sharp increases in cometary activity that appear to occur randomly. It can likely explain the unusual brightness of dynamically new comets as they approach the Sun for the first time. New comets likely experience the amorphous-to-crystalline ice phase transition at between 5 and 7…
Read More- cometCometary nuclei
…above, nuclei can display “outbursts,” which are large sudden releases of dust and gas. The most famous was from the comet 17P/Holmes in 2007, which brightened by 15 magnitudes (one million times brighter) in less than two days. One possible explanation is the amorphous ice transition to crystalline ice.…
Read More…above, nuclei can display “outbursts,” which are large sudden releases of dust and gas. The most famous was from the comet 17P/Holmes in 2007, which brightened by 15 magnitudes (one million times brighter) in less than two days. One possible explanation is the amorphous ice transition to crystalline ice.…
Read More