Related papers: Comet 240P/NEAT is Stirring
The study of active asteroids has attracted a great deal of interest in recent years since the recognition of main-belt comets (which orbit in the main asteroid belt, but exhibit comet-like activity due to the sublimation of volatile ices)…
We present an analysis of Kitt Peak National Observatory and Lowell Observatory observations of comet 103P/Hartley 2 obtained from August through December 2010. The results are then compared with contemporaneous observations made by the…
The release of volatiles from comets is usually from direct sublimation of ices on the nucleus, but for very or hyper-active comets other sources have to be considered to account for the total production rates. In this work, we present new…
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…
Based on millimeter-wavelength continuum observations we suggest that the recent 'spectacle' of comet 17P/Holmes can be explained by a thick, air-tight dust cover and the effects of H2O sublimation, which started when the comet arrived at…
On the AGB, low to intermediate mass stars blow away their outer envelopes, forming planetary nebulae. Interaction between the planetary nebula and its central progenitor is poorly understood and even more complex when the central object is…
In the late stages of accretion leading up to the formation of planetesimals, particles grew to pebbles the size of 1-mm to tens of cm. That is the same size range that dominates the present-day comet mass loss. Meteoroids that size cause…
Rosetta observations of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) reveal that most changes occur in the fallback-generated smooth terrains, vast deposits of granular material blanketing the comet's northern hemisphere. These changes express…
The rotations of cometary nuclei are known to change in response to outgassing torques. The nucleus of comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak exhibited particularly dramatic rotational changes when near perihelion in 2017 April. Here, we use…
Ejection of large boulder-like debris is a vigorous form of cometary activity that is unlikely induced by water ice out-gassing alone but rather associated with the sublimation of super-volatile ices. Though perceived on several comets,…
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.…
Comet C/1999 S4 (LINEAR) was exceptional in many respects. Its nucleus underwent multiple fragmentations culminating in the complete disruption around July 20, 2000. We present circular polarization measurements along the cuts through the…
We study the evolution of long-period comets by numerical integration of their orbits, following comets from their origin in the Oort cloud until their final escape or destruction, in a model solar system consisting of the Sun, the four…
We introduce a parameter, X, to predict the changes in the rotational period of a comet in terms of the rotational period itself, the nuclear radius, and the orbital characteristics. We show that X should be a constant if the bulk densities…
The apparent source region (or regions) of long-period comets as well as the definition of the dynamically new comet are still open questions.The aim of this investigation is to look for the apparent source of selected long period comets…
On 4 July 2005 at 05:52 UT, the impactor of NASA's Deep Impact (DI) mission crashed into comet 9P/Tempel 1 with a velocity of about 10 km/s. The material ejected by the impact expanded into the normal coma, produced by ordinary cometary…
A three-dimensional numerical experiment of the launching of a hot and fast coronal jet followed by several violent eruptions is analyzed in detail. These events are initiated through the emergence of a magnetic flux rope from the solar…
We examine the dynamics of small bodies in orbits similar to that of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1, i.e. near-circular orbits between Jupiter and Saturn. As of late 2019, there are 14 other known bodies in this region that lie in similar…
A sequence of events, dominated by two outbursts and ending with the preperihelion disintegration of comet C/2017 S3, is examined. The onset times of the outbursts are determined with high accuracy from the light curve of the nuclear…
Comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 has been observed to fragment on several occasions, yet the cause of its fragmentation remains poorly understood. We use previously unpublished archival Hubble Space Telescope data taken in 2006 to study the…