Snodgrass, C, Opitom, C, de Val-Borro, M, Jehin, E, Manfroid, J, Lister, T, Marchant, JM, Jones, GH, Fitzsimmons, A, Steele, IA, Smith, RJ, Jermak, HE, Granzer, T, Meech, KJ, Rousselot, P and Levasseur-Regourd, A-C (2016) The perihelion activity of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko as seen by robotic telescopes. Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, 462 ((S) 1). pp. 138-145. ISSN 0035-8711

Preview

Text 1610.06407.pdf - Accepted Version Download (877kB) | Preview

Abstract

Around the time of its perihelion passage, the observability of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko from Earth was limited to very short windows each morning from any given site, due to the low solar elongation of the comet. The peak in the comet's activity was therefore difficult to observe with conventionally scheduled telescopes, but was possible where service/queue-scheduled mode was possible, and with robotic telescopes. We describe the robotic observations that allowed us to measure the total activity of the comet around perihelion, via photometry (dust) and spectroscopy (gas), and compare these results with the measurements at this time by Rosetta's instruments. The peak of activity occurred approximately two weeks after perihelion. The total brightness (dust) largely followed the predictions from Snodgrass et al., with no significant change in total activity levels from previous apparitions. The CN gas production rate matched previous orbits near perihelion, but appeared to be relatively low later in the year.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society following peer review. The version of record C Snodgrass, C Opitom, M de Val-Borro, El Jehin, J Manfroid, T Lister, J Marchant, G. H. Jones, Fitzsimmons, I. A. Steele, R. J. Smith, H Jermak, T Granzer, K. J. Meech, P Rousselot, A Levasseur-Regourd; The perihelion activity of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko as seen by robotic telescopes. Mon Not R Astron Soc 2016; 462 (Suppl_1): S138-S145. doi: 10.1093/mnras/stw2300 is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw2300here].
Uncontrolled Keywords:	0201 Astronomical And Space Sciences
Subjects:	Q Science > QB Astronomy Q Science > QC Physics
Divisions:	Astrophysics Research Institute
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Date Deposited:	09 Mar 2017 11:53
Last Modified:	20 Apr 2022 09:55
DOI or ID number:	10.1093/mnras/stw2300
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/5847

View Item