• Title/Summary/Keyword: comet observations

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PHOTOGRAPHIC AND PHOTOELECTRIC OBSERVATIONS OF COMET P/HALLEY IN 1985-86

  • Nha, Il-Seong;Lee, Yong-Sam;Kim, Ho-Il;Chun, Yong-Woo
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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    • v.6 no.1
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    • pp.57-72
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    • 1989
  • A total of 80 photographs on 29 nights and another total of 44(22 each in B and V) photoelectric observations on 6 nights are secured for P/Halley(1982 ⅰ) for seven months before and after the perihelion passage. The photographic observations have been mode at different places depending on the position of the comet and the development of the tail, while the photoelectric observations were made only with 61-cm reflector at Yonsei University Observatory(YUO). Four most representative photographs are presented only to illustrate the remarkable features of the comet. The second one of these shows a coma with a possible flash activity on 1985 SEPT. 18.56 UT. The third one shows the largest tail recorded among our plates, and the last one prepresents unusual record made on northern hemisphere at a latitude as high as about $33^{circ}$12' N on the occasion of the comet's second perigee on 1976 APR. 11.6 UT. Photoelectric observations, on the other hand, determine the V and B-V of the total and the coma of the comet before its perihelion passage, and exhibit the light variations of 0m.6 in V in an hour and a half. Two new sets of m and n, one before and the other after the perihelion passage, determined based on the collected data, but the values are dissimilar one another significantly.

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Observations of the Rigollet Comet from Korea and Japan

  • Lee, Ki-Won;Mihn, Byeong-Hee;Ahn, Young Sook;Kim, Bong-Gyu
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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    • v.31 no.1
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    • pp.63-66
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    • 2014
  • Since Rigollet first discovered a comet in 1939, many follow-up observations have been made, particularly in Europe. It is now known that the Rigollet comet is identical with the one observed by Herschel in 1788, and thus it is now called 35P/1939 O1 or the Herschel-Rigollet comet. Yumi, a Japanese astronomer, also observed the Rigollet comet in Korea using a 6-inch refractor telescope, and published his data in two Japanese journals (Bulletin of the Observatory of the Government-General of Korea and Publication of the Lecture on Meteorology). In his paper, Yumi also referred to observations by Hirose and Kanda in Japan. However, their works have not been given attention by international society. In this study, we analyze the observation data of Yumi and present preliminary orbital elements using it with a modified Gauss method. We expect that this study will be used to refine the orbital elements of the Rigollet comet by orbital-calculation experts. For that reason, we have also transcribed all the observational data presented by Yumi.

Heliospheric Current Sheet Probe

  • Yu, Yi
    • International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics Korean Journal of Geophysical Research
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    • v.23 no.1
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    • pp.12-17
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    • 1995
  • Space explorations by spacecraft have detected the solar wind and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), whose existences had been suggested to explain the narrow comet plasma tail formation before the space age. Thereafter, a global magnetic structure seperating the opposite polarity regions of IMF in the heliosphere was discovered (Wilcox and Ness, 1965). It is called helispheric current sheet (HCS). Comets have been proved as the useful heliospheric probes. Recently, another capability of comet as a probe of HCS was suggested by Yi (1994). In the process of comet plasma tail disconnection events (EDs) showing the ray folding and main tail severance between the folding rays (Brandt, 1982), the folding rays preceding DE might be the visualization of HCS draped around comet, In order to test this new idea, the association of comet Halley 16 DEs with comet crossings of HCS confirmed by spacecraft observations at the time of comet Halley apparition 1985~1986 was investigated.

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Thermal Modeling of Comet-Like Objects from AKARI Observations

  • Bach, Yoonsoo P.;Ishiguro, Masateru;Usui, Fumihiko
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.42 no.2
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    • pp.49.3-50
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    • 2017
  • There have been recent studies which revealed a tendency that thermal inertia decreases with the size of asteroidal bodies, and suggestions that thermal inertias of cometary bodies should be much smaller than those asteroidal counterparts, regardless of comets' nuclear sizes, which hints a way to differentiate cometary candidates from asteroids using thermal inertia information. We thus selected two comet-like objects from AKARI satellite of JAXA, namely, 107P/ (4015) Wilson-Harrington and P/2006 HR30 (Siding Spring), and applied simple thermophysical model to test the idea. Both targets did not show any comet-like activity during the observations. From the model, we found Wilson-Harrington to have size of 3.7-4.4 km, geometric albedo 0.040-0.055 and thermal inertia of 100-250 J m-2 K-1 s-0.5, which coincide with previous works, and HR30 to have size of 24-27 km, geomoetric albedo of 0.035-0.045 with thermal inertia of 250-1000 J m-2 K-1 s-0.5. HR30 is found to have the rotation pole near the ecliptic plane (the latitude between -20 and +60 deg). Based on the results, we conjecture that comet-like objects are not clearly distinguishable from asteroidal counterpart using thermal inertia.

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Search for the Comet Activity of 107P/(4015)Wilson-Harrington during 2009/2010 Apparition

  • Ishiguro, Masateru
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.35 no.2
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    • pp.52.2-52.2
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    • 2010
  • 107P/(4015) Wilson-Harrington is one of possible candidates of the dormant or inactive comet nuclei. It was discovered on a photographic plate exposed with the 48-inch Schmidt at Palomar Observatory on 1949 November 19 UT, displaying the faint extended cometary tail. No comet activity has not been after 1949 apparition. Here we present the optical observations of 107P/(4015) Wilson - Harrington during 2009/2010 apparition taken in search of low-level comet activity. Our photometric and spectroscopic data were collected 28 - 86 days after the perihelion passage on 2009 October 22 in a wide range of solar phase angle of 39-68 degree. A disk-integrated phase function was constructed, giving a geometric albedo of 0.055+/-0.012, phase integral of q=0.34, and Bond albedo of A_B=0.019. The photometric property shows profile similar to low albedo asteroids and comet nuclei. Any emission lines were found in our spectrum, giving a flat reflectance similar to low albedo asteroids. Although we could not find any evidence for the comet activity in our photometric and spectroscopic data, we found an upper limit of the fractional active area of 0.001%. We derived the upper limit of the optical depth of the dust trail and tail 7x10^{-10}. We conclude that 107P/(4015)Wilson-Harrington became completely dormant or inactive in 2009/2010 return.

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DERIVATIONS OF $^{18}O$ ABUNDANCES IN COMETS USING THE ULTRAVIOLET BANDS OF $^{18}OH$

  • Kim, Sang-Joon
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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    • v.17 no.2
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    • pp.147-150
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    • 2000
  • A fluorescent equilibrium model for the 1-0 band of the A-X system of ${18}^{OH}$ has been constructed. Line positions and intensities have been calculated for possible future spectroscopic observations of these bands from space in order to derive ${18}^{O}/{16}^{O}$ ratios in comets. It is demonstrated that the strong lines of the 1-0 band can be observable for a moderately bright comet using a high resolution spectrometer with a reasonable exposure time.

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Daytime Visibility of Halley's Comet in 1222

  • Choi, Go-Eun;Lee, Ki-Won;Mihn, Byeong-Hee;Ahn, Young Sook
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.42 no.2
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    • pp.70.1-70.1
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    • 2017
  • We reexamine the Goryeosa (History of the Goryeo Dynasty, A.D. 918-1392) account that Halley's Comet was seen during the daytime on September 9, 1222. To verify whether the referenced "daytime" refers to twilight or daylight (i.e., when the Sun is above horizon), we determine the absolute magnitude and heliocentric power-law exponent for Halley's Comet using observations made around the perihelion in 1986 and a formula considering the brightness enhancement by forward-scattering. We then apply the results to estimate the light curve of Halley's Comet in the 1222 event and find that the total visible magnitude could reach a maximum of -1.7 on September 8, one day before the Goryeosa's account. Therefore, we think that Halley's Comet with a coma of -1.7 mag and tail-length of about $20^{\circ}$ was actually observed during the day on September 9 because the observational conditions on that day were so good that Venus was visible in daylight. Furthermore, we think that the event might have been witnessed in the morning sky because the contents of Venus's culmination (occurred around September 9.07 TT) continue on the same day account.

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Polarimetric Survey of Comet 46P/Wirtanen

  • Zubko, Evgenij;Zheltobryukhov, Maxim;Chornaya, Ekaterina;Zubko, Evgenij;Ivanova, Oleksandra V.;Kochergin, Anton;Kornienko, Gennady;Luk'yanyk, Igor;Matkin, Alexey;Molotov, Igor E.;Kim, Sungsoo S.;Videen, Gorden
    • The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.44 no.2
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    • pp.45.1-45.1
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    • 2019
  • Comet 46P/Wirtanen is a Jupiter-family comet whose orbital period is of approximately 5.44 years and perihelion lying at about 1.06 au. The comet is known for being a primary target of the Rosetta space mission prior to it being rescheduled to 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. In its 2018 apparition, comet 46P approached Earth within ~0.08 au, which made possible its study with relatively small telescopes. We used this rare opportunity to conduct a comprehensive study of the 46P polarization from November 16, 2018, about a month prior to its perihelion passage December 12, until January 17, 2019. Over this two-month time period, weather conditions were favorable on 13 nights. Observations were made with the 22-cm telescope located at the Ussuriysk Astrophysical Observatory (code C15), which operates within the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON). We will report our findings at the conference.

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OBSERVATIONS OF THE J=1-0 TRANSITION LINE OF HCN IN COMET HALE-BOPP (헤일밥 혜성의 HCN(J=1-0) 천이선 관측)

  • KIM BONG GYE;KIM HYO RYUNG;CHO SE HYUNG;KIM SANG JOON
    • Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.13 no.1 s.14
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    • pp.129-134
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    • 1998
  • Observations of the J=1-0 transition line of HCN were made at the center of Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) from November, 1996 to April, 1997 with the 14-m radio telescope at the TRAO (Taeduk Radio Astronomical Observatory). From the obtained data, an HCN production rate at each observed date was derived. The rapid variation of the HCN production rate near the perihelion was detected, and it is thought to be caused by jet(s) from the nucleus. The correlation between the visual magnitude and the HCN production rate is found to be $Q_{HCN}=27.03-0.11(m_v-5log{\Delta})$.

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