The Dust Tail of Comet P/Kopff

Details The Dust Tail of Comet P/Kopff The Dust Tail of Comet P/Kopff

Sep 1996

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1996dps....28.0806f&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #28, #08.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 28, p.1084

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

1

Scientific paper

P/Kopff is a short-period (P=6.4 years) comet that regularly exhibits an interesting dust tail. We obtained a series of images after the January 20, 1990 box[t]{2.1 in}{ perihelion passage that shows a fan-shaped dust tail persisting essentially unchanged for at least 18 months. Toward the end of this time period, the tail eventually appears to separate and move away from the nucleus, while still maintaining the same general fan shape (see figure).} From this sequence of images, information about the particle sizes in the tail and the activity levels of the nucleus as a function of time can be found. The sequence of images may even hold enough information to produce an estimate of the rotation axis orientation. As part of a comprehensive study of comet P/Kopff, we are using our kinetic model to reproduce the morphology of P/Kopff's dust tail. The model itself is based on the Finson-Probstein (F-P) technique and calculates the motions of dust grains under the influence of solar gravity and radiation pressure. It then produces a surface brightness profile of the tail by summing up the light scattered from the grains. Our model, though based on the F-P method, incorporates many improvements over the original technique, including: directed emission from the nucleus; corrections for orbital mechanics distortions; a minimization routine to search for the best fit between the observed image and the model; and realistic scattering functions that represent scattering from fluffy grains. Under proper conditions, the model can be used to determine the general particle size distribution, the dust production rate, and the emission velocity of the dust grains. A review of the modeling process will be presented, along with the results from models of the comet P/Kopff image sequence.

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