The Satellite Model for comets, a competitor of the Dirty Snowball
model and a corollary of the exploded planet hypothesis (EPH), makes a
very specific prediction that the comet nucleus is a solid rocky
asteroid. See http://metaresearch.org/solar%20syst...DeepImpact.asp
for background and details.

The Dirty Snowball model itself makes no specific prediction
(although individual advocates are betting on various possible
outcomes), but instead has an accommodation ready for whatever is found.
In science, this is known as "shooting an arrow into a target, then
painting a bull's eye around the arrow" [P. Lipton, Science 307:219
(2005)].

Within a few days, after the dust settles, we'll have important new
data about the origin and nature of comets, and about which of the
current models does the best job. -|Tom|-


Tom Van Flandern - Washington, DC - see our web site on replacement
astronomy research at http://metaresearch.org