Long- and Short-Term Photometric Behavior of Comet Hyakutake (1996 B2)

Schleicher, D. G.; Osip, D. J.

doi:10.1006/icar.2002.6875

Cited by 38 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…Although sometimes it is difficult to choose between a single-peak phase profile or its double-peak first multiple (e.g. Schleicher et al 1991;Schleicher & Osip 2002), to our knowledge a symmetric multipeak shape has never been unambiguously claimed. Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The HCN molecule as a tracer of the nucleus rotation of comet 73P-C/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3

Drahus¹,

Küppers

Jarchow³

et al. 2010

A&A

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Context. The causes of cometary break-ups are still uncertain. One suggested mechanism is splitting due to fast rotation of the nucleus. This can be tested by measuring rotation periods of cometary fragments. Aims. The exceptionally close approach of the split comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 to the Earth in May 2006 made it an ideal target to investigate the rotation of its fragments. We used the HCN light curve for this purpose, because it is particularly sensitive to the rotation of the nucleus and at the same time it allows us to study the physics of cometary activity. Results. The light curve of comet 73P-C/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 in HCN shows strong non-random variations, most probably stimulated by the nucleus rotation. The variability has an amplitude of about a factor of 2 on a time scale of hours. Among several plausible solutions for periodicity, we found strong indications for a rotation period of between 3.0 and 3.4 h, consistent with the determination from the Hubble Space Telescope. At 1 AU from the Sun the mean-diurnal HCN production rate was 2.7 × 10 25 molec s −1 (with an uncertainty of about 20%) and the coma was expanding with a velocity of 0.8 ± 0.1 km s −1 . The line position was evolving with a phase angle that is visible in the night-averaged spectra. Conclusions. Evolution of the line position is consistent with the solar-stimulated activity. The mean-diurnal HCN production rate should be considered as very high, and it requires an unusually large fraction of the nucleus area to be active, whereas the coma expansion velocity was typical. The proposed rotation period, being the shortest ever determined for a cometary nucleus, cautiously suggests the disruption of the parent body due to a large centrifugal force, though it cannot be considered as a proof of this scenario. On the other hand, the observed stability of 73P-C against the rotational disruption suggests a bulk tensile strength of at least 14-45 Pa. The rotation period was surprisingly stable, indicating that no more than about 0.2% of the total outgassing was effectively accelerating or decelerating the nucleus spin. This is consistent with the large active fraction of the nucleus.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

The HCN molecule as a tracer of the nucleus rotation of comet 73P-C/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3

Drahus¹,

Küppers

Jarchow³

et al. 2010

A&A

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“…The existence of a water ice halo has been postulated long ago (Huebner 1966;Delsemme 1969) to explain the large water production rates measured in some comets with nuclei too small for such production. A recent example is Comet C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake) with a Q(H 2 O) of ≈3 × 10 29 mol/s (Schleicher & Osip 2002) and a nucleus diameter of 3 km (Harmon et al 1997). Hanner et al (1981) showed that dirty ice grains would have very short lifetimes at 1 AU from the Sun, of the order of a few hundreds of seconds, depending on their size.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sublimating components in the coma of comet C/2000 WM₁(LINEAR)

Tozzi

Lara

Kolokolova

et al. 2004

A&A

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Abstract. Comet C/2000 WM 1 (LINEAR) was observed at ESO at the time of its closest approach to the Earth at the beginning of December 2001 (geocentric distance: 0.32 AU). The aim of the observations was characterization of the solid component of the coma. Observations have been acquired over a wide spectral range, from the visible to the thermal infrared using three telescopes simultaneously. In this paper we discuss the possible discovery of two sublimating components in the coma, one of them with scattering properties very different from those of the "common" cometary dust. We provide evidence that these two components possibly originate from different kinds of organic material.

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“…No trends are evident with either parameter, so we conclude that this primary measure of Wild 2's composition has remained constant over time and with distance from the Sun, an unsurprising result given the similar orbital behavior of each of the carbon-bearing species. As discussed recently in papers about Comets Hyakutake (1996 B2) (Schleicher and Osip, 2002) and 19P/Borrelly (Schleicher et al, 2003), a direct comparison of abundance ratios with the taxonomic classes determined from the A' Hearn et al (1995) database must be made with caution, because of changes in filter reduction coefficients related to our improved understanding of the shape and extent of the wings of the C 2 and C 3 emission bands (see Appendix A and Farnham et al, 2000). To first order, these changes will result in new C 2 -to-CN ratios ∼ 17% larger than would have been computed previously, but the specific shift also depends somewhat on the dust-to-gas ratio of a particular comet.…”

Section: Compositionmentioning

confidence: 98%