11. 彗星的pristine relics
The long-held perspective that comets are pristine remnants from the formation of the solar system has evolved from the prevailing views of 30 years ago, finds planetary scientist Dr. S. Alan Stern in a paper published in the journal Nature.
Its fair to say that a sea change has taken place, says Stern, director of the Space Studies Department in the SwRI Space Science and Engineering Division. We used to consider comets as wholly unchanged relics that had been stored ever since the era of solar system formation in a distant, cold, timeless deep freeze called the Oort cloud. We now appreciate that a variety of processes slowly modify comets during their storage there, he says. As a result, its become clear that the Oort cloud and its cousin the Kuiper Belt are not such perfect deep freezes.
The first evolutionary process to be recognized as affecting comets during their long storage was radiation damage, followed by the discovery that sandblasting from dust grains in the interstellar medium plays an important role. Next, researchers theorized that comets in the Oort cloud are heated to scientifically significant temperatures by passing stars and supernovae, says Stern. More recently, researchers are finding that comets in the Kuiper Belt are heavily damaged by collisions.
It also now seems inevitable that most comets from the Kuiper Belt, though constructed of ancient material, cannot themselves be ancient -- instead they must be recently created chips off larger Kuiper Belt Objects, formed as a result of violent impacts, says Stern. This is truly a paradigm shift. Many of the short-period comets we see arent even ancient!
The classical view that comets do not evolve while they are stored far from the sun in the Oort cloud and Kuiper Belt began to change as far back as the 1970s, but the pace of discoveries about the way comets evolve picked up considerably in the 1980s and 1990s.
As a result of these findings, astronomers now better appreciate that comets, though still the most pristine bodies known, have been modified in several important ways since their birth, says Stern.
The realization that comets evolve during their long storage in the Oort cloud and Kuiper Belt provides insight and context to more confidently evaluate the results of astronomical and space mission observations of comets. So, too, it suggests that cometary sample return missions now on the drawing board for NASA should employ relatively deep subsurface sampling if truly pristine, ancient material is to be collected.
网络语言 Internet Language
珍惜眼前 Cherish What We Have
传统文化的继承To Inherit the Tradition
教育的根本The Root of Education
不要失去勇气 Do Not Lose the Courage
烦恼的青春期 Troubled Adolescent
英语自我介绍范文(一)
美好青春 Being Young Is Good
平凡也美丽 Ordinary Is Beautiful
英文面试自我介绍范文
《奇异博士》亮点不断
and、of、a、in用法总结
做个优秀的女生 Be an Excellent Girl
matter用法总结
世界红十字日 World Red Cross Day
英语自我介绍范文(二)
英语自我介绍(研究生复试)
哈里王子为女友发声
自拍时撞毁雕像
美文欣赏:善行无小事
付出与收获 Hard Work and Income
美文赏析:致忧伤的你
中国礼物 Chinese Gifts
青春的记忆 The Memory of Youth
米歇尔成2020年总统候选人人气王
人间的天使 The Angel On the Earth
七大技巧助你开口说英语
多看英美电影助力英语口语飙升
时间都去哪儿了? Where Has the Time Gone?
一个来自农场的音乐天才 A Talented Musical Boy From the Farm
不限 |
英语教案 |
英语课件 |
英语试题 |
不限 |
不限 |
上册 |
下册 |
不限 |