Spin axis orientation of 2060 Chiron from dust coma modeling

Details Spin axis orientation of 2060 Chiron from dust coma modeling Spin axis orientation of 2060 Chiron from dust coma modeling

Feb 1994

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1994a%26a...282..980f&link_type=abstract

Astronomy and Astrophysics (ISSN 0004-6361), vol. 282, no. 3, p. 980-988

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

21

Astronomical Models, Axes Of Rotation, Chiron, Comet Nuclei, Comet Tails, Interplanetary Dust, Rotating Bodies, Spin Dynamics, Astronomical Photometry, Escape Velocity, Mathematical Models, Perihelions, Comets, Asteroids, Chiron, Comae, Dust, Model, Spin, Comet Nuclei, Rotation, Retrograde Motion, Obliquity, Ejection, Velocity, Grains, Escape, Acceleration, Shape, Comparison, Size, Parameters, Isophotes, Hypotheses

Scientific paper

The numerical inverse model of comet dust tails (Fulle 1989) is improved in order to take into account possible effects of the nucleus rotation on the dust shell axis orientation, and is applied to the asymmetric dust coma image of 2060 Chiron (West 1991). Tests of the model allow to prove that the dust shell axis orientation (1) strongly affects the coma image fits, (2) is uniquely determined and (3) introduces changes of the second order in the solutions (loss rates and size distribution) with respect to other non-linear free parameters (time and size dependence of the dust velocity and ejection anisotropy). The comparison of our results with those of coma photometry allows to infer the most probable spin axis orientation: retrograde rotation and obliquity of about 135 deg. The strongest activity occurs 9 +/- 4 min after the Sun cumulation. The ejection velocity of grains of 40 micron diameter is 5 +/- 1 m/s, much lower than the probable escaping velocity of CO or CO2, thus suggesting a strong deceleration due to the nearest gravity. The correlation between nucleus rotation and coma shape seems to exclude significant orbital escaping from a possible bound coma close to the nucleus surface (Meech & Belton 1990). The mass loss rate is higher than the estimate of Luu & Jewitt (1990), reaching 20 +/- 10 kg/s between 1987 and 1990, and is dominated by grains of 0.1 mm size, as confirmed by the time-averaged size distribution, the power index of which is -3.2 +/- 0.1 for diameters between 1 micron and 1 mm.

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