Physics – Optics
Scientific paper
Jul 2004
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2004hst..prop10333f&link_type=abstract
HST Proposal ID #10333
Physics
Optics
Hst Proposal Id #10333
Scientific paper
The objective is to determine the size, shape, and possible presence of a small, possibly bound, companion. The latter has been reported by Marchis et al. using the ADONIS adaptive optics system on the ESO 3.6 meter telescope. They claim separations of the two components of 0.23'' {November 1997} and 0.36'' {January 1998} when the comet was 3.3 and 4.1 AU from the Sun. Such a companion is not evident in any STIS images recorded by Weaver et al., but these were single snapshots in time and the companion may have been occulted. The discovery of a bound companion, and the subsequent determination of its orbital period, would provide the first determination of a cometary mass and the density of a cometary nucleus. At large heliocentric distances there will still be residual dust coma so the highest possible spatial resolution {HRC near 300 nm} is needed to model the coma and photometrically isolate the nucleus. The near infrared is best suited for evaluation of the spatial distribution of the dust coma. With proper choice of filter it is also possible to search for a gas coma {CN at 388 nm}. Ideally the comet should be imaged over a complete 11.3 hour rotation period, but a half period would be sufficient to obtain an idea of the shape of the reflecting body. Hale-Bopp is visible throughout 2002. During the period 1 March 2002 to 28 February 2003 the heliocentric distance increases from 15.2 to 17.3 AU. The expected nucleus magnitude {visible} is 16.5-17.0
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