<p>There is no typical value. If you insist, use about 1kg/s but allow deviations of at least 2 orders or magnitude, depending on comet, Earth distance etc. One can make reasonable deductions from observations of the comets in the last 35 years.</p>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11214-020-00662-1.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">M. Choukroun et al</a>. and cited sources therein estimate the mass loss rate of 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko at around <span class="math-container">$10^{28}$</span> molecules/s at peak mass loss and an overall around <span class="math-container">$10^{10}$</span> kg (corresponding to ~1kg/s) during the whole perihelion passage over the course of the 2 years.
<a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231066154_Dust_in_Comet_67PChuryumov-Gerasimenko" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Moreno et al</a> give dust loss rates around 1 to 1000 kg/s during perihelion passage. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249430465_Mass-loss_rates_dust_particle_sizes_nuclear_active_areas_and_minimum_nuclear_radii_of_target_comets_for_missions_STARDUST_and_CONTOURP" rel="nofollow noreferrer">G. C. Sanzovo et al</a>. do a comparative study for a number of recent bright comets and get similar numbers.</p>
<p>There exists an old study from 1987 by <a href="http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1987ESASP.278..739K" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Kresak, L. &amp; Kresakova, M.</a> which estimates the mass loss rates for many comets per century giving values between <span class="math-container">$10^8$</span> and <span class="math-container">$10^{12}$</span> kg / century (higher end is Halley) - which generally are not too far off of what is quoted above, but take these values with a grain of salt as far fewer in-situ measurments to calibrate models were available by then and science on comets has progressed a lot since.</p>

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2021-07-12T08:34:31.400Z
2021-07-12T10:41:24.813Z
2021-07-12T10:41:24.813Z
planetmaker
<p>What is the typical range of a comet's mass loss per second to its dust and gas tails, while it is naked-eye visible from Earth?</p>
<p>I'm aware this is going to be a very broad range and expect it to cover multiple orders of magnitude, so any specific examples — Hale–Bopp, Halley's, or similar, at any point where their apparent magnitude was enough to be visible without a telescope — would be perfectly valid answers, even though I'm mainly curious about the minimum.</p>
<p>[Target level: I'm an amateur enthusiast, not a professional].</p>

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2021-07-12T02:46:09.953Z
[Comets lose mass with each passage through the inner solar system ...](https://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/physics/astrocourses/AST101/readings/comets.html)
Keith McClary
<comets>
Mass loss rate in a typical visible-from-Earth comet
BenRW
# Mass loss rate in a typical visible-from-Earth comet

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-07-11)

What is the typical range of a comet's mass loss per second to its dust and gas tails, while it is naked-eye visible from Earth?

I'm aware this is going to be a very broad range and expect it to cover multiple orders of magnitude, so any specific examples — Hale–Bopp, Halley's, or similar, at any point where their apparent magnitude was enough to be visible without a telescope — would be perfectly valid answers, even though I'm mainly curious about the minimum.

[Target level: I'm an amateur enthusiast, not a professional].

**Tags:** comets

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: [Comets lose mass with each passage through the inner solar system ...](https://www.vanderbilt.edu/AnS/physics/astrocourses/AST101/readings/comets.html)  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-07-12. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

There is no typical value. If you insist, use about 1kg/s but allow deviations of at least 2 orders or magnitude, depending on comet, Earth distance etc. One can make reasonable deductions from observations of the comets in the last 35 years.

[M. Choukroun et al](https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11214-020-00662-1.pdf). and cited sources therein estimate the mass loss rate of 67/P Churyumov-Gerasimenko at around $10^{28}$ molecules/s at peak mass loss and an overall around $10^{10}$ kg (corresponding to ~1kg/s) during the whole perihelion passage over the course of the 2 years.
[Moreno et al](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/231066154_Dust_in_Comet_67PChuryumov-Gerasimenko) give dust loss rates around 1 to 1000 kg/s during perihelion passage. [G. C. Sanzovo et al](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249430465_Mass-loss_rates_dust_particle_sizes_nuclear_active_areas_and_minimum_nuclear_radii_of_target_comets_for_missions_STARDUST_and_CONTOURP). do a comparative study for a number of recent bright comets and get similar numbers.

There exists an old study from 1987 by [Kresak, L. & Kresakova, M.](http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1987ESASP.278..739K) which estimates the mass loss rates for many comets per century giving values between $10^8$ and $10^{12}$ kg / century (higher end is Halley) - which generally are not too far off of what is quoted above, but take these values with a grain of salt as far fewer in-situ measurments to calibrate models were available by then and science on comets has progressed a lot since.


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