03-September-2003, 10:47 AM
|
 |
Order of Kilopi
|
|
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Karlsruhe, Germany, Old Europe
Posts: 4,148
|
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Pinemarten
Quote:
|
As the comet approached, the ice in the nucleus began to evaporate (sublimate), and the comet soon became surrounded by a cloud of dust and gas (the "coma").
|
Doesn't sublimation occur when a solid changes phase directly to gas? Dry ice to CO2 for instance. Do comets melt to liquid for a short time before going to a gaseous state, or are they gas-ice, as opposed to water-ice? |
In a vacuum even water-ice sublimates. No liquid phase. |