English

First Results from TESS Observations of Comet 46P/Wirtanen

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics 2020-12-03 v1

Abstract

We report on initial results from 20 days' worth of TESS spacecraft observations of comet 46P/Wirtanen. The long-duration, high-cadence measurements show a 2018 September 26 outburst that exhibited a two-phase, 0.5 mag brightening profile, and may be the best temporally characterized natural outburst ever recorded. Gas velocities from the outburst peaked at 800 m s1^{-1}, while dust expanded at only 10s of m s1^{-1}. Coadded images also revealed a previously unreported dust trail that extends beyond the 24^\circ field of view.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1911.08318,
  title  = {First Results from TESS Observations of Comet 46P/Wirtanen},
  author = {Tony L. Farnham and Michael S. P. Kelley and Matthew M. Knight and Lori M. Feaga},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1911.08318},
  year   = {2020}
}

Comments

9 pages, 5 figures