[meteorite-list] 17P Holmes

[E.P. Grondine]

Hi all - 

Thanks, Chris - I guess the new orbit will be
determined soon.

Perhaps something started the outgassing.  Barring a
gravitational force, or just an "ordinary"
disintegration, wouldn't collision be possible? Or if
there was a disintegration into cometissimals...

E.P. Grondine
Man and Impact in the Americas

From: "Chris Peterson" <clp at alumni.caltech.edu>

It requires only a tiny percent of the mass to be
ejected in order to 
produce an immense coma. Furthermore, the mass almost
certainly was 
ejected at low velocity, and seems to be fairly
isotropic.

The apparent motion of the comet is quite low now, so
it will take some
 
time to get enough measurements to accurately
calculate the orbital 
elements. But I rather expect that the effect of the
outgassing on the 
orbit is very small.

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