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06-July-2005, 01:35 AM
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Comet Craters
Sorry if this has been previously discussed, but there's so many threads about deep impact that it's hard to tell...
I was noticing on the pre-impact photos that Temple 1 has what appear to be (at least, to my uneducated eye) craters. This really surprised me. Specifically, wouldn't the effects of sublimation erode away the craters? Have craters been observed on other comets? Do we have high-resolution pictures of other comets that could show craters? --BTW 
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06-July-2005, 01:53 AM
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Okay sublimation would wear awy the older craters the comet is probably still running into other debris in the solar system. About other comets, this is one of first times one has been seen this close so we do not really know.
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06-July-2005, 03:23 AM
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Comet Wild, imaged by the Stardust mission, had what appeared to be craters. But some researchers think they were sink holes caused by out gassing. The craters didn't have the same appearance of impact craters.
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06-July-2005, 03:44 AM
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Quote:
Only 194 days til sample return!
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06-July-2005, 04:21 PM
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bytheway asks:
“Specifically, wouldn't the effects of sublimation erode away the craters?” Inside the orbit of Saturn, you betcha. But for ‘pristine’ comets (by which I mean, have never been kicked into the inner system), then no. Out in the Kuiper belt and Oort cloud it is so cold and distant from the Sun that sublimation would become a negligible mechanism for erosion. http://www.harmsy.freeuk.com/oimages/oort_cloud.jpg
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