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We observed the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov using the Neil Gehrels-Swift Observatory's Ultraviolet/Optical Telescope. We obtained images of the OH gas and dust surrounding the nucleus at six epochs spaced before and after perihelion (−2.56 AU to 2.54 AU). Water production rates increased steadily before perihelion from (7.0 ± 1.5) × 10 26 molecules s −1 on Nov. 1, 2019 to (10.7 ± 1.2) × 10 26 molecules s −1 on Dec. 1. This rate of increase in water production rate is quicker than that of most dynamically new comets and at the slower end of the wide range of Jupiter-family comets. After perihelion, the water production rate decreased to (4.9 ± 0.9) × 10 26 molecules s −1 on Dec. 21, which is much more rapidly than that of all previously observed comets. Our sublimation model constrains the minimum radius of the nucleus to 0.37 km, and indicates an active fraction of at least 55% of the surface. A(0)f ρ calculations show a variation between 57.5 and 105.6 cm with a slight trend peaking before the perihelion, lower than previous and concurrent published values. The observations confirm that 2I/Borisov is carbon-chain depleted and enriched in NH 2 relative to water.

We use the DDA method to study scattering properties of aggregates. Based on this aggregate model, the temperatures of cometary dust particles will be close to those of the equivalent total volume sphere when the aggregate porosity is ≤ 0.64.

In this paper, we present an analysis of X-ray and optical/ultraviolet (UV) data from the favorable (Δ ∼ 0.077 au) 2018 apparition of comet 46P/Wirtanen. The comet was observed during three different epochs (before, during, and after perihelion) over a 1.5 month period using the X-Ray Telescope (XRT) and Ultraviolet and Optical Telescope (UVOT) instruments on board the Neil Gehrels Swift Observatory and the Advanced CCD Imaging Spectrometer (ACIS) on board the Chandra X-ray Observatory. We clearly detected the comet’s charge exchange-induced emission during the first two epochs (F x = (11.2 ± 0.8) and (6.9 ± 0.5) × 10−13 erg cm−2 s−1, respectively), while only an upper limit on the flux could be placed for the third epoch (F x < 1.38 × 10−13 erg cm−2 s−1). As such, 46P/Wirtanen is one of the least luminous comets to be detected in X-rays. X-ray emission from the charge exchange between solar wind ions and the neutrals in the coma were analyzed against the water-production rate (Swift/UVOT) and space weather measurements. Further analyses of the emission features show that the solar wind properties inferred from the observed X-ray spectrum are in good agreement with those measured by the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) and Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft, proving the approach is reliable for solar wind diagnostics. It is also found that, despite the variability of the comet’s properties (e.g., the water-production rate used as a neutrals density proxy), cometary X-ray emission is primarily modulated by the solar wind.