Related papers: The Discus Comet: C/2014 B1 (Schwartz)
Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke was observed from the Calar Alto Observatory (Spain) for four months during the 2021 inbound apparition. Broad-band visible images were taken between 1.71 and 1.25 AU pre-perihelion, while long-slit spectrophotometric…
We present a study of comet C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS) using prediscovery archival data taken from 2013 to 2017. Our measurements show that the comet has been marginally increasing in activity since at least 2013 May (heliocentric distance of…
We studied C/2025 D1 (Groeller), a long-period comet with an unprecedented perihelion distance of 14.1 au, using archival observations. The data reveals that it had been active at inbound heliocentric distances $r_{\rm H} \gtrsim 20$ au.…
Conventional narrowband photoelectric photometry of Comet Hale-Bopp (1995 O1) was obtained on 99 nights from mid-1995 to early-2000, yielding gas and dust production rates over an unprecedented range of time and distance. The appearance of…
We present imaging and spectroscopic data on comet 19P/Borrelly that were obtained around the time of the Deep Space 1 encounter and in subsequent months. In the four months after perihelion, the comet showed a strong primary (sunward) jet…
We observed dynamically new sungrazing comet ISON (C/2012 S1) extensively at Lowell Observatory throughout 2013 in order to characterize its behavior prior to perihelion. ISON had "typical" abundances for an Oort Cloud comet. Its dust…
C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) is a comet incoming from the Oort cloud which is remarkable in having the brightest (and presumably largest) nucleus of any well-measured comet, and having been discovered at heliocentric distance…
Comets, relics from the early solar system, consist of dust and ice. The ice sublimates as comets approach the Sun, ejecting dust from their nuclei seen as activity. Different volatiles sublimate at different Sun-comet distances and eject…
We present an optical and near-infrared (hereafter NIR) polarimetric study of a comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina) observed on UT 2015 December 17-18 at phase angles of $\alpha$=52.1 deg - 53.1 deg. Additionally, we obtained an optical spectrum…
Comets display with decreasing solar distance an increased emission of gas and dust particles, leading to the formation of the coma and tail. Spacecraft missions provide insight in the temporal and spatial variations of the dust and gas…
Long-period comet C/2018 F4 (PANSTARRS) was observed to show duplicity of its inner region in 2020 September, suggestive of a splitting event. We here present analyses of our observations of the comet taken from the LOOK project and the…
We used the UltraViolet-Optical Telescope on board Swift to observe the dynamically young comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) from a heliocentric distance of 3.5 AU pre-perihelion until 4.0 AU outbound. At 3.5 AU pre-perihelion, comet Garradd had one…
(60558) 174P/Echeclus is an unusual object that belongs to a class of minor planets called Centaurs, which may be intermediate between Kuiper Belt Objects and Jupiter Family comets. It is sporadically active throughout its orbit at…
We report the discovery of X-ray emission from comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) by the LECS instrument on-board BeppoSAX on 1996 September 10--11. The 0.1--2.0 keV luminosity decayed by a factor of 2 on a timescale of ~10 hr with a mean value of…
Cometary activity may be driven by ices with very low sublimation temperatures, such as carbon monoxide ice, which can sublimate at distances well beyond 20 au. This point is emphasized by the discovery of Oort cloud comet C/2014 UN$_{271}$…
We present pre-perihelion infrared 8 to 31 micron spectrophotometric and imaging observations of comet C/2012 K1 (Pan-STARRS), a dynamically new Oort Cloud comet, conducted with NASA's Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy…
Observations of the CO J(1-0) 115 GHz and J(2-1) 230 GHz lines in comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) were performed with the IRAM Plateau de Bure interferometer on 11 March, 1997. The observations were conducted in both single-dish (ON-OFF) and…
Comet-centaur 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 was observed in CO+ emission and contin-uum during 2007-2009 using the 6-m Big Telescope Alt-azimuth at the Special Astrophysical Observatory of the Russian Academy of Sciences. We analysed the…
The coma of comet C/2016 R2 (PanSTARRS) is one of the most chemically peculiar ever observed, in particular due to its extremely high CO/H2O and N2+/H2O ratios}, and unusual trace volatile abundances. However, the complex shape of its CO…
Dynamically new comet C/2011 L4 (PanSTARRS) is one of the brightest comets since the great comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp). Here, we present our multi-wavelength observations of C/2011 L4 during its in-bound passage to the inner Solar system. A…