Related papers: Coma composition and profiles of comet 12P/Pons-Br…
We analyse the population of near-Earth Long-Period Comets (LPCs) (perihelion distances q < 1.3 AU and orbital periods P > 10^3 yr). We have considered the sample of LPCs discovered during the period 1900-2009 and their estimated absolute…
We present analysis of observations of CO2 and OI emission in three comets to measure the CO2 abundance and evaluate the possibility of employing observations of OI emission in comets as a proxy for CO2. We obtained NIR imaging sensitive to…
We report the detection of water vapor associated with main-belt comet 358P/PANSTARRS on UT 2024 January 8-9 using the NIRSPEC instrument aboard JWST. We derive a water production rate of Q(H2O)=(5.0+/-0.2)x10^25 molecules/s, marking only…
We observed Comet C/Siding Spring using the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) during its close approach to Mars. The high spatial resolution images obtained through the F689M, F775W, and F845M filters reveal the characteristics of the dust coma.…
We present 2-5 $\mu$m spectroscopic observations of the dust coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko obtained with the VIRTIS-H instrument onboard Rosetta during two outbursts that occurred on 2015, 13 September 13.6 h UT and 14 September 18.8 h…
We report a new imaging spectroscopic observation of Oort-cloud comet C/2017 K2 (hereafter K2) on its way to perihelion at 2.53 au, around a heliocentric distance where H2O ice begins to play a key role in comet activation. Normalized…
We present observations of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko during its 2021/22 apparition, aiming to investigate its dust and gas environment and compare the results with those obtained in 2015/16 using the same telescope. Quasi-simultaneous…
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…
We have carried out a continuous multi-band photometric monitoring of the nuclear activity of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 from 2008 to 2010. Our main aim has been to study the outburst mechanism on the basis of a follow-up of the…
Comet 156P/Russell-LINEAR is a short period Jupiter family comet with an orbital period of 6.44 years. The results from spectroscopic, photometric, polarimetric observations and dust modelling studies are presented here. From the…
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…
The extraordinary 2021 September-October outburst of Centaur 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 afforded an opportunity to test the composition of primitive Kuiper disk material at high sensitivity. We conducted nearly simultaneous multi-wavelength…
The image of comet 2I/Borisov taken by the Hubble Space Telescope on October 12 shows a fan-like feature in the inner coma, which extends over a few arcseconds from the nuclear condensation, its axis pointing a little west of the north. It…
We imaged Comet 252P/2000 G1 (LINEAR) (hereafter 252P) with the Hubble Space Telescope and both 252P and P/2016 BA$_{14}$ (PanSTARRS) (hereafter BA$_{14}$) with the Discovery Channel Telescope in March and April 2016, surrounding its close…
Imaging polarimetry enables the spatially resolved investigation of cometary dust properties across different morphological structures. While cometary comae have been studied thoroughly in the pertinent literature, cometary tails have…
We present optical observations and Monte Carlo models of the dust coma, tail, and trail structures of comet 22P/Kopff during the 2002 and 2009 apparitions. Dust loss rates, ejection velocities, and power-law size distribution functions are…
We present the results of a molecular survey of long period comets C/2021 A1 (Leonard) and C/2022 E3 (ZTF). Comet C/2021 A1 was observed with the IRAM 30-m radio telescope in November-December 2021 before perihelion when it was closest to…
We present an analysis of the photometric and spectroscopic observations of the split comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS). Observations were carried out on the 14th and 16th of April 2020 when the heliocentric distances of the comet were 1.212 and…
Studying materials released from Jupiter-family comets (JFCs) -- as seen in their inner com\ae, the envelope of gas and dust that forms as the comet approaches the Sun -- improves the understanding of their origin and evolutionary history.…
Cometary activity is a manifestation of sublimation-driven processes at the surface of nuclei. However, cometary outbursts may arise from other processes that are not necessarily driven by volatiles. In order to fully understand nuclear…