Other
Scientific paper
Jan 2010
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010aas...21544801b&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #215, #448.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 42, p.453
Other
Scientific paper
The chemical composition and evolution of comet material can be studied during perihelion passage when solar irradiation enhances the production rate of volatile gases leading to the release of dust from the nucleus and the exposure of refractory material to UV flux. Here we discuss contemporaneous optical/infrared spectrophotometric and polarimetric observations during the 2009 apparition of the Oort Cloud (OC) comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin) near perihelion. Polarimetric observation obtained at a phase-angles of less than 20 degrees show a clear negative branch (i.e., the polarization position angle is parallel to the Sun-comet vector), with small total polarization, reaching -1.25% at a phase angle of 4 degrees at [H], consistent with a lack of small submicron grains or less porous aggregates dominating the grains size distribution of coma. Spectral energy distributions measured from narrow band filter photometry, low-resolution 10-micron spectra, as well as Spitzer IRS spectra indicate that C/2007 N3 (Lulin) has very weak (Fnu/Bnu(228K) of approximately 1.05 at 10 micron) silicate emission feature, implying a deficiency of small, submicron-sized silicate grains in the coma. These data suggest that C/2007 N3 (Lulin) does not exhibit dust properties more typically seen in other OC comets (e.g., C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp), but instead has grain properties more similar to comets from the trans-Neptunian region like 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. We speculate that Lulin's peculiar dust characteristics (as compared to OC comets) may be due to (1) differences in the level of volatile activity and materials processing, or (2) intrinsic differences reflecting conditions extant in the formation zone of C/2007 N3 (Lulin) in the early solar system as opposed to those of other OC comet nuclei.
Support for this work provided in part by a National Science Foundation grant AST-0706980 to the University of Minnesota.
Brown Bailey
Harker David E.
Jones Terry J.
Kelley Michael S.
Kolokolova Ludmilla
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