The influence of Oort clouds on the mass and chemical balance of the interstellar medium

Journal Article · Wed Aug 01 04:00:00 EDT 1990 · Astrophysical Journal; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/169082· OSTI ID:6149553

Stern, S A; Shull, J M ^[1]

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1. Colorado Univ., Boulder (USA)

The contribution of stellar encounters and interstellar erosion to comet cloud mass injection to the ISM is calculated. It is shown that evaporative mass loss from passing stars and SNe results in an average Galactic mass injection rate of up to 10 to the -5th solar mass/yr if such clouds are frequent around solar-type stars. Cometary erosion by interstellar grains produces an injection rate of 10 to the -5th to 10 to the -4th solar mass/yr. An injection rate of 2 x 10 to the -5th solar mass/yr is calculated. Each of these rates could be increased by a factor of about 15 if the comet clouds contain a significant amount of smaller debris. It is concluded that the total mass injection rate of material to the ISM by comet clouds is small compared to other ISM mass injection sources. Comet cloud mass loss to the ISM could be responsible for a sizeable fraction of the metal and dust abundances of the ISM if Oort clouds are common. 50 refs.

• OSTI ID: 6149553
• Journal Information: Astrophysical Journal; (USA), Journal Name: Astrophysical Journal; (USA) Vol. 359; ISSN ASJOA; ISSN 0004-637X
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640105* -- Astrophysics & Cosmology-- Galaxies
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ABUNDANCE
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
COMETS
COSMIC DUST
COSMIC RADIO SOURCES
DUSTS
ELEMENT ABUNDANCE
EQUILIBRIUM
EROSION
GALAXIES
H1 REGIONS
INTERSTELLAR SPACE
MASS
MASS TRANSFER
MILKY WAY
SPACE