Search for Secular Drift in the Rotation of Comet 2P/Encke

Details Search for Secular Drift in the Rotation of Comet 2P/Encke Search for Secular Drift in the Rotation of Comet 2P/Encke

Aug 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005noao.prop..490f&link_type=abstract

NOAO Proposal ID #2005B-0490

Computer Science

Scientific paper

We propose to determine if and how the rotation state of Comet 2P/Encke changes from orbit to orbit. Time series of photometry in 2005, while the comet is near aphelion, will indicate if the dominant periodicity has changed from that measured around the previous aphelion, in 2001-2002. While it is possible that the comet is in non-principal axis rotation, one phenomenon that could also be present in the data is a secular drift of the rotation period caused by outgassing torques. The comet's emission of gas can provide a reaction force that could be spinning up the nucleus. Such a phenomenon must be taken into account if we are to understand P/Encke's rotation state. Furthermore this could be used to derive the comet's mass and density, fundamental properties that are poorly constrained among cometary nuclei. Comparison of data from the 1980s and the early 2000s suggests that the dominant periodicity is decreasing by about 2.4 minutes per orbit, but we need much more detailed coverage than what was obtained in the 1980s to be confident of this phenomenon's reality and magnitude.

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