Comet Prospects for 2021
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Load more
Recommended publications
-
Comet Section Observing Guide
Comet Section Observing Guide 1 The British Astronomical Association Comet Section www.britastro.org/comet BAA Comet Section Observing Guide Front cover image: C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) by Geoffrey Johnstone on 1997 April 10. Back cover image: C/2011 W3 (Lovejoy) by Lester Barnes on 2011 December 23. © The British Astronomical Association 2018 2018 December (rev 4) 2 CONTENTS 1 Foreword .................................................................................................................................. 6 2 An introduction to comets ......................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Anatomy and origins ............................................................................................................................ 7 2.2 Naming .............................................................................................................................................. 12 2.3 Comet orbits ...................................................................................................................................... 13 2.4 Orbit evolution .................................................................................................................................... 15 2.5 Magnitudes ........................................................................................................................................ 18 3 Basic visual observation ........................................................................................................ -
The Comet's Tale
THE COMET’S TALE Newsletter of the Comet Section of the British Astronomical Association Volume 5, No 1 (Issue 9), 1998 May A May Day in February! Comet Section Meeting, Institute of Astronomy, Cambridge, 1998 February 14 The day started early for me, or attention and there were displays to correct Guide Star magnitudes perhaps I should say the previous of the latest comet light curves in the same field. If you haven’t day finished late as I was up till and photographs of comet Hale- got access to this catalogue then nearly 3am. This wasn’t because Bopp taken by Michael Hendrie you can always give a field sketch the sky was clear or a Valentine’s and Glynn Marsh. showing the stars you have used Ball, but because I’d been reffing in the magnitude estimate and I an ice hockey match at The formal session started after will make the reduction. From Peterborough! Despite this I was lunch, and I opened the talks with these magnitude estimates I can at the IOA to welcome the first some comments on visual build up a light curve which arrivals and to get things set up observation. Detailed instructions shows the variation in activity for the day, which was more are given in the Section guide, so between different comets. Hale- reminiscent of May than here I concentrated on what is Bopp has demonstrated that February. The University now done with the observations and comets can stray up to a offers an undergraduate why it is important to be accurate magnitude from the mean curve, astronomy course and lectures are and objective when making them. -
Guide User Manual (PDF)
CONTENTS 1: 2 Installing Guide 2: 2 Getting Help 3: 3 What Guide is showing you 4: 4 Panning and zooming 5: 5 Finding objects 5a: 8 Finding stars 5b: 10 Finding galaxies 5c: 12 Finding nebulae 5d: 12 Entering coordinates 6: 13 Getting information about objects 6a: 15 Measuring angular distances on the screen 6b: 15 Quick info 7: 16 The Display menu 7a: 17 The Star Display menu 7b: 19 The Data Shown menu 7c: 21 Planet display 7d: 23 The Camera Frame menu 7e: 24 The Legend Menu 7f: 26 Measurement markings (grids, ticks, etc.) 7g: 28 Backgrounds dialog 8: 29 Changing settings 8a: 34 Location dialog 8b: 35 Inversion dialog 9: 36 Overlays menu 10: 38 User Object menu 11: 39 Telescope control 12: 42 DOS Printer setup and printing 13: 43 PostScript charts 14: 44 The time dialog 15: 46 Planetary animation and ephemeris generation 16: 50 Tables menu 17: 52 Extras menu 17a: 54 DSS/RealSky Images 17b: 56 Downloading star data from the Internet 17c: 58 Installing to the hard drive 17d: 59 Asteroid options 18: 62 Eclipses, occultations, transits 19: 63 Saving and going to marks 20: 64 User-added (.TDF) datasets 21: 65 Adding your own notes for objects 22: 66 About Guide's data 23: 67 Accessing Guide's data from your own programs 24: 68 Acknowledgments Appendices: A: 70 RA and Declination Explained B: 70 Precession and Epochs Explained C: 71 Altitude and Azimuth (Alt/Az) Explained D: 72 Troubleshooting Positions 1 E: 73 Notes on Accuracy F: 73 Adding New Comets G: 75 Astronomical Magnitudes H: 75 Copyright and Liability Notices I: 77 List of Program-Wide Hotkeys Index 79 Questions and bug reports should be sent to: Project Pluto 168 Ridge Road Bowdoinham ME 04008 Fax (207) 666 3149 Tel (207) 666 5750 Tel (800) 777 5886 E-mail: [email protected] WWW: http://www.projectpluto.com 1: HOW TO INSTALL GUIDE To install Guide, put the Guide DVD into the DVD drive. -
Physical Characterization of NEA Large Super-Fast Rotator (436724) 2011 UW158
EPJ manuscript No. (will be inserted by the editor) Physical characterization of NEA Large Super-Fast Rotator (436724) 2011 UW158 A. Carbognani1, B. L. Gary2, J. Oey3, G. Baj4, and P. Bacci5 1 Astronomical Observatory of the Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley (OAVdA), Aosta - Italy 2 Hereford Arizona Observatory (Hereford, Cochise - U.S.A.) 3 Blue Mountains Observatory (Leura, Sydney - Australia) 4 Astronomical Station of Monteviasco (Monteviasco, Varese - Italy) 5 Astronomical Observatory of San Marcello Pistoiese (San Marcello Pistoiese, Pistoia - Italy) Received: date / Revised version: date Abstract. Asteroids of size larger than 0.15 km generally do not have periods smaller than 2.2 hours, a limit known as cohesionless spin-barrier. This barrier can be explained by the cohesionless rubble-pile structure model. There are few exceptions to this “rule”, called LSFRs (Large Super-Fast Rotators), as (455213) 2001 OE84, (335433) 2005 UW163 and 2011 XA3. The near-Earth asteroid (436724) 2011 UW158 was followed by an international team of optical and radar observers in 2015 during the flyby with Earth. It was discovered that this NEA is a new candidate LSFR. With the collected lightcurves from optical observations we are able to obtain the amplitude-phase relationship, sideral rotation period (PS = 0.610752 ± 0.000001 ◦ ◦ ◦ ◦ h), a unique spin axis solution with ecliptic coordinates λ = 290 ± 3 , β = 39 ± 2 and the asteroid 3D model. This model is in qualitative agreement with the results from radar observations. PACS. PACS-key discribing text of that key – PACS-key discribing text of that key 1 Introduction The near-Earth asteroid (436724) 2011 UW158 was discovered on 2011 Oct 25 by the Pan-STARRS 1 Observatory at Haleakala (Hawaii, USA). -
Project Pan-STARRS and the Outer Solar System
Project Pan-STARRS and the Outer Solar System David Jewitt Institute for Astronomy, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822 ABSTRACT Pan-STARRS, a funded project to repeatedly survey the entire visible sky to faint limiting magnitudes (mR ∼ 24), will have a substantial impact on the study of the Kuiper Belt and outer solar system. We briefly review the Pan- STARRS design philosophy and sketch some of the planetary science areas in which we expect this facility to make its mark. Pan-STARRS will find ∼20,000 Kuiper Belt Objects within the first year of operation and will obtain accurate astrometry for all of them on a weekly or faster cycle. We expect that it will revolutionise our knowledge of the contents and dynamical structure of the outer solar system. Subject headings: Surveys, Kuiper Belt, comets 1. Introduction to Pan-STARRS Project Pan-STARRS (short for Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response Sys- tem) is a collaboration between the University of Hawaii's Institute for Astronomy, the MIT Lincoln Laboratory, the Maui High Performance Computer Center, and Science Ap- plications International Corporation. The Principal Investigator for the project, for which funding started in the fall of 2002, is Nick Kaiser of the Institute for Astronomy. Operations should begin by 2007. The science objectives of Pan-STARRS span the full range from planetary to cosmolog- ical. The instrument will conduct a survey of the solar system that is staggering in power compared to anything yet attempted. A useful measure of the raw survey power, SP , of a telescope is given by AΩ SP = (1) θ2 where A [m2] is the collecting area of the telescope primary, Ω [deg2] is the solid angle that is imaged and θ [arcsec] is the full-width at half maximum (FWHM) of the images { 2 { produced by the telescope. -
Research Paper in Nature
Draft version November 1, 2017 Typeset using LATEX twocolumn style in AASTeX61 DISCOVERY AND CHARACTERIZATION OF THE FIRST KNOWN INTERSTELLAR OBJECT Karen J. Meech,1 Robert Weryk,1 Marco Micheli,2, 3 Jan T. Kleyna,1 Olivier Hainaut,4 Robert Jedicke,1 Richard J. Wainscoat,1 Kenneth C. Chambers,1 Jacqueline V. Keane,1 Andreea Petric,1 Larry Denneau,1 Eugene Magnier,1 Mark E. Huber,1 Heather Flewelling,1 Chris Waters,1 Eva Schunova-Lilly,1 and Serge Chastel1 1Institute for Astronomy, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA 2ESA SSA-NEO Coordination Centre, Largo Galileo Galilei, 1, 00044 Frascati (RM), Italy 3INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via Frascati, 33, 00040 Monte Porzio Catone (RM), Italy 4European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, D-85748 Garching bei M¨unchen,Germany (Received November 1, 2017; Revised TBD, 2017; Accepted TBD, 2017) Submitted to Nature ABSTRACT Nature Letters have no abstracts. Keywords: asteroids: individual (A/2017 U1) | comets: interstellar Corresponding author: Karen J. Meech [email protected] 2 Meech et al. 1. SUMMARY 22 confirmed that this object is unique, with the highest 29 Until very recently, all ∼750 000 known aster- known hyperbolic eccentricity of 1:188 ± 0:016 . Data oids and comets originated in our own solar sys- obtained by our team and other researchers between Oc- tem. These small bodies are made of primor- tober 14{29 refined its orbital eccentricity to a level of dial material, and knowledge of their composi- precision that confirms the hyperbolic nature at ∼ 300σ. tion, size distribution, and orbital dynamics is Designated as A/2017 U1, this object is clearly from essential for understanding the origin and evo- outside our solar system (Figure2). -
Week 5: January 26-February 1, 2020
5# Ice & Stone 2020 Week 5: January 26-February 1, 2020 Presented by The Earthrise Institute About Ice And Stone 2020 It is my pleasure to welcome all educators, students, topics include: main-belt asteroids, near-Earth asteroids, and anybody else who might be interested, to Ice and “Great Comets,” spacecraft visits (both past and Stone 2020. This is an educational package I have put future), meteorites, and “small bodies” in popular together to cover the so-called “small bodies” of the literature and music. solar system, which in general means asteroids and comets, although this also includes the small moons of Throughout 2020 there will be various comets that are the various planets as well as meteors, meteorites, and visible in our skies and various asteroids passing by Earth interplanetary dust. Although these objects may be -- some of which are already known, some of which “small” compared to the planets of our solar system, will be discovered “in the act” -- and there will also be they are nevertheless of high interest and importance various asteroids of the main asteroid belt that are visible for several reasons, including: as well as “occultations” of stars by various asteroids visible from certain locations on Earth’s surface. Ice a) they are believed to be the “leftovers” from the and Stone 2020 will make note of these occasions and formation of the solar system, so studying them provides appearances as they take place. The “Comet Resource valuable insights into our origins, including Earth and of Center” at the Earthrise web site contains information life on Earth, including ourselves; about the brighter comets that are visible in the sky at any given time and, for those who are interested, I will b) we have learned that this process isn’t over yet, and also occasionally share information about the goings-on that there are still objects out there that can impact in my life as I observe these comets. -
The History and Dynamics of Comet 9P/Tempel 1
The History and Dynamics of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 Donald K. Yeomans, Jon D. Giorgini and Steven R. Chesley 301-150, Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Caltech, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA Submitted to Space Science Reviews, July xx, 2004 Suggested running head: History and Dynamics of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 Editorial correspondence to: Donald K. Yeomans 301-150 Jet Propulsion Laboratory 4800 Oak Grove Drive Pasadena, CA 91109-8099 [email protected] Tel. (818) 354 2127 FAX (818) 393 1159 Key words: Comets, Deep Impact, Space Missions, 9P/Tempel 1, cometary dynamics Abstract: Since its discovery in 1867, periodic comet 9P/Tempel 1 has been observed at 10 returns to perihelion, including all its returns since 1967. The observations for the seven apparitions beginning in 1967 have been fit with an orbit that includes only radial and transverse nongravitational accelerations that model the rocket-like thrusting introduced by the outgassing of the cometary nucleus. The successful nongravitational acceleration model did not assume any change in the comet’s ability to outgas from one apparition to the next and the outgassing was assumed to reach a maximum at perihelion. The success of this model over the 1967 – 2003 interval suggests that the comet’s spin axis is currently stable. Rough calculations suggest that the collision of the impactor released by the Deep Impact spacecraft will not provide a noticeable perturbation on the comet’s orbit nor will any new vent that is opened as a result of the impact provide a noticeable change in the comet’s nongravitational acceleration history. -
The Catalogue of Cometary Orbits and Their Dynamical Evolution? Małgorzata Królikowska1 and Piotr A
A&A 640, A97 (2020) Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202038451 & c ESO 2020 Astrophysics The catalogue of cometary orbits and their dynamical evolution? Małgorzata Królikowska1 and Piotr A. Dybczynski´ 2 1 Centrum Badan´ Kosmicznych Polskiej Akademii Nauk (CBK PAN), Bartycka 18A, Warszawa 00-716, Poland e-mail: [email protected] 2 Astronomical Observatory Institute, Faculty of Physics, A.Mickiewicz University, Słoneczna 36, Poznan,´ Poland Received 19 May 2020 / Accepted 23 June 2020 ABSTRACT We present the CODE catalogue, the new cometary catalogue containing data for almost 300 long-period comets that were discovered before 2018. This is the first catalogue containing cometary orbits in the five stages of their dynamical evolution and covering three successive passages through the perihelion, with the exception of the hyperbolic comets which are treated in a different manner. Non- gravitational orbits are given for about 100 of these long-period comets, and their orbits obtained while neglecting the existence of non-gravitational acceleration are included for comparison. For many of the presented comets, different orbital solutions, based on the alternative force models or various subsets of positional data, are also provided. The preferred orbit is always clearly indicated for each comet. Key words. comets: general – Oort Cloud 1. Introduction shot 1. The method of obtaining Snapshots 2 and 3, that is orig- inal and future orbits, is described in Sect.3. The previous and The knowledge of orbits is crucial in many research areas related next orbit calculations (Snapshots 4 and 5) are sketched out in to the origin and the evolution of comets and their populations. -
Notable COMETS of 2021
Notable COMETS of 2021 C/2019 N1 (ATLAS) C/2019 N1 (ATLAS) already reached perihelion on December 1st of 2020. However, being located at the opposite side of the sun its elongation (apparent sun-comet distance) has been very poor. As the comet is moving south on its highly inclined orbit, it will become better observable from the Southern hemisphere. Up until August of 2020, its increase in brightness has been some somewhat less than average, so I would expect the brightness of this comet to end up somewhere between magnitude 12.0 and 12.5 around closest approach on February 8 of 2021. 141P/Machholz Periodic comet 141P/Machholz, discovered in 1994, has an orbital period of 5.3 years. From the year of its discovery the comet is already known to be accompanied by several smaller fragments from a pre-discovery break-up. For the 2021 apparition, the main component was recovered by PANSTARRS in August and then not seen for a while. It was observed again on December 4th by Alan Hale. On December 5, two smaller fragments were found by Michael Jäger, which have been tentatively identified as the fragments -b and -d as observed in 1994. The main component reached perihelion on December 16, 2020 and its brightness at the beginning of 2021 will be somewhere between magnitude 13.5 and 14. The comet will be closest to earth (0.53 AU) on January 19, 2021. 398P/Boattini Following its recovery in August of 2020, periodic comet P/2009 Q4 (Boattini) has been redesignated as numbered comet 398P/Boattini. -
Initial Characterization of Interstellar Comet 2I/2019 Q4 (Borisov)
The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 886:L29 (6pp), 2019 December 1 https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ab530b © 2019. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Initial Characterization of Interstellar Comet 2I/2019 Q4 (Borisov) David Jewitt1,2 and Jane Luu3 1 Department of Earth, Planetary and Space Sciences, UCLA, 595 Charles Young Drive East, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1567, USA; [email protected] 2 Departmentof Physics and Astronomy, UCLA, 430 Portola Plaza, Box 951547, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1547, USA 3 Centre for Earth Evolution and Dynamics, University of Oslo, Postboks 1028 Blindern, NO-0315 Oslo, Norway Received 2019 October 4; revised 2019 October 24; accepted 2019 October 30; published 2019 November 22 Abstract We present initial observations of the interstellar body 2I/(2019 Q4) Borisov taken to determine its nature prior to the perihelion in 2019 December. Images from the Nordic Optical Telescope show a prominent, morphologically stable dust coma and tail. The dust cross-section within 15,000 km of the nucleus averages 130 km2 (assuming geometric albedo 0.1) and increases by about 1% per day. If sustained, this rate indicates that the comet has been active for ∼100 days prior to the observations. Cometary activity thus started in 2019 June, at which time C/ Borisov was at ∼4.5 au from the Sun, a typical distance for the onset of water ice sublimation in comets. The dust optical colors, B − V=0.80±0.05, V − R=0.47±0.03 and R− I=0.49±0.05, are identical to those of a sample of (solar system) long-period comets. -
A Search for the Origin of the Interstellar Comet 2I/Borisov
A&A 634, A14 (2020) Astronomy https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/201937231 & © C. A. L. Bailer-Jones et al. 2020 Astrophysics A search for the origin of the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov Coryn A. L. Bailer-Jones1, Davide Farnocchia2, Quanzhi Ye ( )3, Karen J. Meech4, and Marco Micheli5,6 1 Max Planck Institute for Astronomy, Königstuhl 17, 69117 Heidelberg, Germany e-mail: [email protected] 2 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA 3 Department of Astronomy, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA 4 Institute for Astronomy, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA 5 ESA NEO Coordination Centre, Largo Galileo Galilei 1, 00044 Frascati (RM), Italy 6 INAF – Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma, Via Frascati 33, 00040 Monte Porzio Catone (RM), Italy Received 2 December 2019 / Accepted 30 December 2019 ABSTRACT The discovery of the second interstellar object 2I/Borisov on 2019 August 30 raises the question of whether it was ejected recently from a nearby stellar system. Here we compute the asymptotic incoming trajectory of 2I/Borisov, based on both recent and pre-discovery data extending back to December 2018, using a range of force models that account for cometary outgassing. From Gaia DR2 astrometry and radial velocities, we trace back in time the Galactic orbits of 7.4 million stars to look for close encounters with 2I/Borisov. The closest encounter we find took place 910 kyr ago with the M0V star Ross 573, at a separation of 0.068 pc (90% confidence interval 1 of 0.053–0.091 pc) with a relative velocity of 23 km s− .