CO Gas and Dust Outbursts from Centaur 29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann

Wierzchoś, Kacper; Womack, Maria

doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ab6e68

Cited by 45 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…If C/2017 K2 (PANSTARRS)'s CO production rate matches that of Hale-Bopp, then we predict that it will be detectable at infrared and mm/submm wavelengths with Q(CO) ∼ 10 28 mol s −1 (Senay & Jewitt 1994;Gunnarsson et al 2003;Paganini et al 2013;Wierzchos & Womack 2020), when it reaches m helio ∼ 7.9. Based on recent lightcurve data from COBS or Yoshida, this is likely to occur during the first half of 2021 as the comet reaches m app < 12.5 and ∆ = 8.5 au.…”

Section: Estimating Co and H 2 O Production Rates For Other Cometsmentioning

confidence: 83%

The visual lightcurve of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) from 1995-1999

Womack¹,

Curtis²,

Rabson³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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The long-term brightness evolution of the great comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) presented a remarkable opportunity to study the behavior of its coma over four years. We used approximately 2200 total visual magnitudes published in the International Comet Quarterly taken from 17 observers during the period of 1995 July -1999 September to create a secular lightcurve. In order to account for observer differences, we present a novel algorithm to reduce scatter and increase precision in a lightcurve compiled from many sources. It is implemented in a publicly available code, IC-QSPLITTER. This code addresses the differences among observers by using a selfconsistent statistical approach, leading to a sharper lightcurve, and improving the precision of the measured slopes. To first order, the comet's lightcurve approximately follows a r −4 response for both pre-and post-perihelion distances. Interestingly, the pre-perihelion data are better fit with a fifth-order polynomial with inflection points

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Section: Estimating Co and H 2 O Production Rates For Other Cometsmentioning

confidence: 83%

The visual lightcurve of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) from 1995-1999

Womack¹,

Curtis²,

Rabson³

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Several jet features could have formed into spirals or repeating features; the orientation was such that they would have been difficult to observe from Earth. Further, Wierzchos & Womack (2020) found that outbursts of CO do not always correlate with dust.…”

Section: Possible Causes Of the Repeating Jet Featurementioning

confidence: 99%

Repeating Gas Ejection Events from Comet 45P/Honda–Mrkos–Pajdušáková

Springmann¹,

Harris²,

Ryan³

et al. 2022

Planet. Sci. J.

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Studying materials released from Jupiter-family comets (JFCs)—as seen in their inner comae, the envelope of gas and dust that forms as the comet approaches the Sun—improves the understanding of their origin and evolutionary history. As part of a coordinated, multiwavelength observing campaign, we observed comet 45P/Honda–Mrkos–Pajdušáková during its close approach to Earth in 2017 February. Narrowband observations were taken using the Bok 90″ telescope at Kitt Peak National Observatory on February 16 and 17 UT, revealing gas and dust structures. We observed different jet directions for different volatile species, implying source region heterogeneity, consistent with other ground-based and in situ observations of other comet nuclei. A repeating feature visible in CN and C2 images on February 16 was also observed on February 17 with an interval of 7.6 ± 0.1 hr, consistent with the rotation period of the comet derived from Arecibo Observatory radar observations. The repeating feature’s projected gas velocity away from the nucleus is 0.8 km s−1, with an outflow velocity of 0.5 km s−1. A bright compact spot adjacent to the nucleus provides a lower limit of the amount of material released in one cycle of ∼9.2 kg, depending on composition—a quantity small enough to be produced by repeated exposure of nucleus ices to sunlight. This repeating CN jet, forming within 400 km of the nucleus, may be typical of inner-coma behavior in JFCs; however, similar features could be obscured by other processes and daughter product species when viewed from distances further than the scale length of CN molecules.

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“…For example the well known active Centaur 29P has been reported to have CO and dust outbursts that are not correlated and could be associated with multiple release mechanisms acting in parallel (Wierzchos and Womack 2020).…”

Section: Thermal Environment and Its Effect On Activity Levelsmentioning

confidence: 99%

No Activity Among 13 Centaurs Discovered in the Pan-STARRS1 Detection Database

Lilly¹,

Hsieh²,

Bauer³

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Centaurs are small bodies orbiting in the giant planet region which were scattered inwards from their source populations beyond Neptune. Some members of the population display comet-like activity during their transition through the solar system, the source of which is not well understood. The range of heliocentric distances where the active Centaurs have been observed, and their median lifetime in the region suggest this activity is neither driven by water-ice sublimation, nor entirely by super-volatiles.Here we present an observational and thermo-dynamical study of 13 Centaurs discovered in the Pan-STARRS1 detection database aimed at identifying and characterizing active objects beyond the orbit of Jupiter. We find no evidence of activity associated with any of our targets at the time of their observations with the Gemini North telescope in 2017 and 2018, or in archival data from 2013 to 2019. Upper limits on the possible volatile and dust production rates from our targets are 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than production rates in some known comets, and are in agreement with values measured for other inactive Centaurs.Our numerical integrations show that the orbits of six of our targets evolved interior to r∼15 AU over the past 100,000 years where several possible processes could trigger sublimation and outgassing, but their apparent inactivity indicates their dust production is either below our detection limit or that the objects are dormant. Only one Centaur in our sample -2014 PQ 70 experienced a sudden decrease in semi-major axis and perihelion distance attributed to the onset of activity for some previously known inactive Centaurs, and therefore is the most likely candidate for any future outburst. This object should be a target of high interest for any further observational monitoring.

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CO Gas and Dust Outbursts from Centaur 29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann

Cited by 45 publications

References 71 publications

The visual lightcurve of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) from 1995-1999

The visual lightcurve of comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) from 1995-1999

Repeating Gas Ejection Events from Comet 45P/Honda–Mrkos–Pajdušáková

No Activity Among 13 Centaurs Discovered in the Pan-STARRS1 Detection Database

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