Related papers: Destruction of Long-Period Comets
We present results of follow-up optical spectroscopic observations of seven rare, extreme coronal line emitting galaxies reported by Wang et al. (2012) with Multi-Mirror Telescope (MMT). Large variations in coronal lines are found in four…
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…
We present an analysis of new and published data on P/2013 R3, the first asteroid detected while disintegrating. Thirteen discrete components are measured in the interval between UT 2013 October 01 and 2014 February 13. We determine a mean,…
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…
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…
Here, we continue this research with a detailed study of their past and future motion during previous and next orbital periods under the perturbing action of our Galactic environment. At all stages of our dynamical study, we precisely…
We have used the Spitzer 22-um peakup array to observe thermal emission from the nucleus and trail of comet 103P/Hartley 2, the target of NASA's Deep Impact Extended mission. The comet was observed on UT 2008 August 12 and 13, while the…
Context. Dust halos or shells, along with linear dark structures along the axes of dust tails, are commonly observed in many long-period comets near perihelion. Examples range from the recent C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) to historical…
We analyze a sample of 139 near-Earth asteroids (NEAs), defined as those that reach perihelion distances $q < 1.3$ au, and that also fulfill the conditions of approaching or crossing Jupiter's orbit (aphelion distances $Q > 4.8$ au), having…
We present high angular resolution Submillimeter Array observations ofthe outbursting Jupiter family comet 17P/Holmes on 2007 October 26-29, achieving a spatial resolution of 2.5", or ~3000 km at the comet distance. The observations…
The origin of the Halley-type comets (HTCs) is one of the last mysteries of the dynamical evolution of the Solar System. Prior investigation into their origin has focused on two source regions: the Oort cloud and the Scattered Disc. From…
During the planet formation process, billions of comets are created and ejected into interstellar space. The detection and characterization of such interstellar comets (also known as extra-solar planetesimals or extra-solar comets) would…
Activity of most comets near the Sun is dominated by sublimation of frozen water, the most abundant ice in comets. Some comets, however, are active well beyond the water-ice sublimation limit of ~3 AU. Three bodies dominate the…
We obtained extensive narrowband photoelectric photometry of Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner with observations spanning 33 years. The original data from 1985 (Schleicher et al. 1987) were re-reduced and are presented along with data from three…
We have identified 22 new variable red giants in 47 Tuc and determined periods for another 8 previously known variables. All red giants redder than V-I_c=1.8 are variable at the limits of our detection threshold, which corresponds to delta…
We summarize the collective knowledge of physical and surface properties of comet nuclei, focusing on those that are obtained from remote observations. We now have measurements or constraints on effective radius for over 200 comets,…
Long-period comets are planetesimal remnants constraining the environment and volatiles of the protoplanetary disc. We report the discovery of hyperbolic long-period comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF), which has a perihelion $\sim$1.11 au, an…
Comets are primitive objects that formed in the protoplanetary disk, and have been largely preserved over the history of the Solar System. However, they are not pristine, and surfaces of cometary nuclei do evolve. In order to understand the…
It is noted that effective very recently, the orbital motion of Encke's comet has become affected by a very slight nongravitational deceleration. Soon after J. F. Encke established in the early 19th century that the comet was returning to…
Distant long-period comet C/2017 K2 has been outside the planetary region of the solar system for 3 Myr, negating the possibility that heat retained from the previous perihelion could be responsible for its activity. This inbound comet is…