Related papers: Ground-based Optical and SPITZER Infrared Imaging …
We report results from new and archival observations of the newly discovered active asteroid (248370) 2005 QN_137, which has been determined to be a likely main-belt comet based on a subsequent discovery that it is recurrently active near…
We report photometric observations of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 made on August 12, 2016 with the broadband B, V, R and I filters and the SOAR 4.1-meter telescope (Chile). We find the comet active at that time. Enhanced images…
We present an analysis of the results of photometric investigations of two distant comets, C/2002 VQ94 (LINEAR) and 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1, obtained with the 6m telescope of the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy…
We investigated three comets, which are active at large heliocentric distances, using observations obtained at the 6-m BTA telescope (SAO RAS, Russia) in the photometric mode of the focal reducer SCORPIO. The three comets,…
Spectrophotometric monitoring of distant comet C/2002 VQ94 (LINEAR) was performed with the 6-m telescope of SAO RAS and with the 2.5-m Nordic Optical Telescope between 2008 and 2013. During this period the comet was on the outbound segment…
We report new observations of the prototype main-belt comet (active asteroid) 133P/Elst-Pizarro taken at high angular resolution using the Hubble Space Telescope. The object has three main components; a) a point-like nucleus, b) a long,…
We observed comet 96P/Machholz 1 on a total of 9 nights before and after perihelion during its 2017/2018 apparition. Both its unusually small perihelion distance and the observed fragmentation during multiple apparitions make 96P an object…
We report on observations of the dust trail of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (CG) in visible light with the Wide Field Imager at the ESO/MPG 2.2m telescope at 4.7 AU before aphelion, and at 24 micron with the MIPS instrument on board the…
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) was imaged with the 2m telescope at Mt. Wendelstein Observatory in the Alps. Coma and tail monitoring was performed during 51 nights between 22 August 2015 and 9 May 2016. The images through r and i…
Re-examination of the COBE DIRBE data reveals the thermal emission of several comet dust trails. The dust trails of 1P/Halley, 169P/NEAT, and 3200 Phaethon have not been previously reported. The known trails of 2P/Encke, and…
Previous studies have suggested that Comet 209P/LINEAR may produce strong me- teor activity on Earth on 2014 May 24; however, exact timing and activity level is difficult to estimate due to the limited physical observations of the comet.…
176P/LINEAR is a member of the new cometary class known as main-belt comets (MBCs). It displayed cometary activity shortly during its 2005 perihelion passage that may be driven by the sublimation of sub-surface ices. We have therefore…
Current wide-field surveys discover ~15 Jupiter-family comets (JFCs) each year, typically identified via visual detection of a dust coma or tail. The same surveys also discover many asteroids that have distant JFC-like orbits, but with no…
The results of the photometric observations of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 are analyzed. The comet demonstrates substantial activity at heliocentric distances larger than 5 AU, outside the water ice sublimation zone. The CCD images of…
Comets offer valuable insights into the early Solar System's conditions and processes. Stellar occultations enables detailed study of cometary nuclei typically hidden by their coma. Observing the star's light passing through the coma helps…
We examine the rise and sudden demise of comet C/2010 X1 (Elenin) on its approach to perihelion. Discovered inbound at 4.2 AU, this long-period comet was predicted to become very bright when near perihelion, at 0.48 AU on 2011 September 10.…
We present observations showing in-bound long-period comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS) to be active at record heliocentric distance. Nucleus temperatures are too low (60 K to 70 K) either for water ice to sublimate or for amorphous ice to…
We report results based on mid-infrared photometry of comet 103P/Hartley 2 taken during May 4-13, 2010 (when the comet was at a heliocentric distance of 2.3 AU, and an observer distance of 2.0 AU) by the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer…
We observed comet 2P/Encke with the Infrared Space Observatory ISOCAM on July 14, 1997 from a particularly favorable viewing geometry above the comet's orbital plane and at a distance of 0.25 AU. A structured coma was observed, along with a…
The Jupiter-family comet 10P/Tempel 2 was observed during its 2010 return with the Herschel Space Observatory. We present here the observation of the (J, K) = (1, 0)-(0, 0) transition of ammonia at 572 GHz in this comet with the Heterodyne…