The light curve of P/Halley and the rotation of its nucleus

Details The light curve of P/Halley and the rotation of its nucleus The light curve of P/Halley and the rotation of its nucleus

Sep 1987

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1987esasp.278..695f&link_type=abstract

In ESA, Proceedings of the International Symposium on the Diversity and Similarity of Comets p 695-701 (SEE N88-21884 14-91)

Physics

1

Comet Nuclei, Halley'S Comet, Light Curve, Rotation, Albedo, Outgassing, Photometry, Precession

Scientific paper

Photometric measurements of Comet Halley exhibit a photometric periodicity of 7.307 + or - 0.005 days. Brightness variations occur together with the periodic release of solid particles during bursts of activity or activity increases of the nucleus. The mechanical behavior of the comet nucleus can be described as that of an axisymmetric ellipsoid. The permanence of the periodicity during at least half the apparition of the comet indicates that no internal damping of the rotation exists and that the nucleus must then be rigid. Since this precession axis lies close to the perpendicular to the orbital plane, then the photometric behavior of the comet and that of the nucleus gaseous output during the entire apparition can be explained if most of the activity takes place in one main active (or a group of) spot(s) located not too close from the poles of the nucleus. In the torque free approximation, it is found that the nucleus rotates about its long axis in 14.614 days. A free precession about an axis tilted by 84 deg to the rotation axis occurs in 2.088 days. Due to this peculiar geometry, the true photometric period is 14.6 days, with two halves nearly identical, thus mimicking a periodicity of 7.3 days. The mean albedo of the areas of the dark areas of the nucleus is 3 percent. The icy patches have an albedo of 8 to 12 percent and are very dusty.

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