Density and brightness distribution of cometary dust tails

Abstract

The density and brightness distributions of cometary dust tails are studied, assuming that the terminal velocity of a dust particle depends on emission time, particle size, and two angles defining the direction of emission. In the novel method, Keplerian trajectories are used for the particles rather than approximations. The corresponding Jacobians can be calculated in closed forms yielding the density distributions. A variety of different trajectory types must be considered. All variations are solved, and the cases are tabulated. The dust density distribution can be calculated rigorously using this approach.