Dust Production Rates in Jupiter-family Comets: A Two Year Study with ATLAS Photometry
Jupiter-family comets (JFCs) exhibit a wide range of activity levels and mass loss over their orbits. We analyzed high-cadence observations of 42 active JFCs with the wide-field Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in 2020–2021. We measured the dust production rates o...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
IOP Publishing
2024-01-01
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| Series: | The Planetary Science Journal |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad1394 |
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| Summary: | Jupiter-family comets (JFCs) exhibit a wide range of activity levels and mass
loss over their orbits. We analyzed high-cadence observations of 42 active JFCs
with the wide-field Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) in
2020–2021. We measured the dust production rates of the JFCs using the Af ρ parameter and its variation as a function of
heliocentric distance. There is a tendency for our JFC sample to exhibit a
maximum Af ρ after perihelion, with 254P/McNaught and P/2020
WJ5 (Lemmon) having their maximum Af ρ over a year after perihelion. On average, the
rate of change of activity postperihelion was shallower than preperihelion. We
also estimated the maximum mass-loss rate for 17 of the JFCs in our sample,
finding 4P/Faye to be the most active. We present a subset of comets whose
measured Af ρ have been interpolated and extrapolated to a
common distance of 2 au preperihelion and postperihelion. From these
measurements we found no correlation of intrinsic activity with current
perihelion distance. For three of the JFCs in our sample, 6P/d’Arrest,
156P/Russell–LINEAR, and 254P/McNaught, there was no visible coma but a constant
absolute magnitude, which we attribute to a probable detection of the nucleus.
We derived upper limits for the nuclear radii of ≤2.1 ± 0.3 km, ≤2.0 ± 0.2 km,
and ≤4.0 ± 0.8 km, respectively. Finally, we found that 4P/Faye, 108P/Ciffreo,
132P/Helin–Roman–Alu 2, 141P/Machholz 2, and 398P/Boattini experienced outbursts
between 2020 and 2022. |
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| ISSN: | 2632-3338 |