SuperWASP Observations of the 2007 Outburst of Comet 17P/Holmes

Details SuperWASP Observations of the 2007 Outburst of Comet 17P/Holmes SuperWASP Observations of the 2007 Outburst of Comet 17P/Holmes

2010-05-15

arxiv.org/abs/1005.2709v1

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

Earth and Planetary Astrophysics

36 pages, 8 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

Scientific paper

We present wide-field imaging of the 2007 outburst of Comet 17P/Holmes obtained serendipitously by SuperWASP-North on 17 nights over a 42-night period beginning on the night (2007 October 22-23) immediately prior to the outburst. Photometry of 17P's unresolved coma in SuperWASP data taken on the first night of the outburst is consistent with exponential brightening, suggesting that the rapid increase in the scattering cross-section of the coma could be largely due to the progressive fragmentation of ejected material produced on a very short timescale at the time of the initial outburst, with fragmentation timescales decreasing from t(frag)~2x10^3 s to t(frag)~1x10^3 s over our observing period. Analysis of the expansion of 17P's coma reveals a velocity gradient suggesting that the outer coma was dominated by material ejected in an instantaneous, explosive manner. We find an expansion velocity at the edge of the dust coma of v(exp) = 0.55+/-0.02 km/s and a likely outburst date of t_0=2007 October 23.3+/-0.3, consistent with our finding that the comet remained below SuperWASP's detection limit of m(V)~15 mag until at least 2007 October 23.3. Modelling of 17P's gas coma indicates that its outer edge, which was observed to extend past the outer dust coma, is best explained with a single pulse of gas production, consistent with our conclusions concerning the production of the outer dust coma.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

SuperWASP Observations of the 2007 Outburst of Comet 17P/Holmes does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with SuperWASP Observations of the 2007 Outburst of Comet 17P/Holmes, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and SuperWASP Observations of the 2007 Outburst of Comet 17P/Holmes will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-671837