ANALYSIS OF THE LIGHT CURVE OF COMET C/2012 X1 LINEAR

ANALYSIS OF LIGHT CURVE OF COMET C/2013 R1 LOVEJOY

Beginning of activity in 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko and predictions for 2014–2015

C. Snodgrass1, C. Tubiana1, D. M. Bramich2, K. Meech3,4, H. Boehnhardt1 and L. Barrera5 1 Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Max-Planck-Str. 2, 37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany e-mail: snodgrass@mps.mpg.de 2 European Southern Observatory, Karl-Schwarzschild-Strasse 2, 85748 Garching bei München, Germany 3 Institute for Astronomy, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA 4 University of Hawaii NASA Astrobiology Institute, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA 5 Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación (UMCE), Avda. Jose Pedro Alessandri 774, 832000 Santiago, Chile Received: 5 June 2013 Accepted: 25 July 2013 Abstract Context. Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was selected in 2003 as the new target of the Rosetta mission. It has since been the subject of a detailed campaign of observations to characterise its nucleus and activity. Aims. We present previously unpublished data taken around the start of activity of the comet in 2007/8, before its last perihelion passage. We constrain the time of the start of activity, and combine this with other data taken throughout the comet’s orbit to make predictions for its likely behaviour during 2014/5 while Rosetta is operating. Methods. A considerable difficulty in observing 67P during the past years has been its position against crowded fields towards the Galactic centre for much of the time. The 2007/8 data presented here were particularly difficult, and the comet will once again be badly placed for Earth-based observations in 2014/5. We make use of the difference image analysis technique, which is commonly used in variable star and exoplanet research, to remove background sources and extract images of the comet. In addition, we reprocess a large quantity of archival images of 67P covering its full orbit, to produce a heliocentric lightcurve. By using consistent reduction, measurement and calibration techniques we generate a remarkably clean lightcurve, which can be used to measure a brightness-distance relationship and to predict the future brightness of the comet. Results. We determine that the comet was active around November 2007, at a pre-perihelion distance from the Sun of 4.3 AU. The comet will reach this distance, and probably become active again, in March 2014. We find that the dust brightness can be well described by Afρ ∝ r-3.2 pre-perihelion and ∝ r-3.4 post-perihelion, and that the comet has a higher dust-to-gas ratio than average, with log (Afρ/Q(H2O)) = − 24.94 ± 0.22 cm s molecule-1 at r < 2 AU. A model fit to the photometric data suggests that only a small fraction (1.4%) of the surface is active. pdf. ABSTRACT PAPER : http://www.aanda.org/articles/aa/abs/2013/09/aa22020-13/aa22020-13.html

LIGHT CURVE OF DATABASE OF MPC OF COMET C/2013 A1 SIDING-SPRING

CCD CURVE OF COMET C/2012 K1 PANSTARRS

Periodogram of light curve ccd of comet C/2012 K1 PANSTARRS , to investigate the latent periodicities in the light curve ccd i applied the phase dispersion minimization technique of software NASA Exoplanet Archive Periodogram Service and periodogram type Lomb-Scargle . rank 1 period 0.998 power 218.8 rank 2 period 0.499 power 184.2 rank 3 period 0.333 power 180 Database MPC 1711 ccd's observations . Note : he P-values above are computed for 6776 periods sampled, and an exponential power distribution is assumed. A note of caution when interpreting the results from the periodogram: The calculated statistical significance (p-value) of ranked periods may not be reliable. Several factors may invalidate the assumptions applied in estimating the statistical significance.