The Importance of the Nucleus Rotation on the Size of the Dust Particle Ejected from Comets

Abstract

Dust particles attached on the nucleus surface can be dragged by cometary gas and, sometimes, these particles may remain around the comet in pseudostable orbits. In a previous work (Molina et al., 2008, EM & P, 102, 521) we show the equation of motion, including rotational terms, and we estimate the maximum diameter of a cometary dust particle that could be lifted from the nucleus surface. The purpose of this work is to analyze the importance of those rotational terms in order to obtain the values of the size of the largest grains ejected from the nucleus. We consider a strong sunward anisotropy emission as reported by Fulle (1997, A & A, 325, 1237). We discuss the obtained values and we make a comparison with those obtained using radar measurements.