Temperature dependence of specific heat capacity and its effect on asteroid thermal models

Abstract

Asteroid thermal models have typically employed a constant value of specific heat capacity, although this parameter is a function of temperature. We examine whether incorporation of the temperature dependence of specific heat capacity is a necessary refinement and find that including it produces considerable differences in thermal history. Though the temperature effect is demonstrated in a representative calculation for a chondritic asteroid with 26Al decay as a heat source, this result also has implications for asteroidal thermal models based on electromagnetic induction heating or heating by impact, as well as for thermal models of the terrestrial planets.