Estimating the Size of Hale-Bopp's Nucleus

Details Estimating the Size of Hale-Bopp's Nucleus Estimating the Size of Hale-Bopp's Nucleus

Sep 1997

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997em%26p...79...17w&link_type=abstract

Earth, Moon, and Planets, v. 79, Issue 1/3, p. 17-33 (1997).

Physics

33

Imaging, Comets

Scientific paper

A variety of independent methods have been used to estimate the size of the nucleus of comet Hale-Bopp. Several groups have analyzed optical and infrared images of the comet and claim to detect the signature of the nucleus, despite the presence of a strong coma. A detection of the nucleus was also claimed during mm- and cm-wave observations of Hale-Bopp shortly before perihelion. A team of observers detected the occultation of a star by the nucleus of Hale-Bopp in October 1996. The maximum observed gas production rate of the comet near perihelion can be used to place a lower limit on the size of the nucleus. This paper critically reviews the many different methods used to constrain the size of Hale-Bopp's nucleus. All of the techniques are affected by systematic errors that can be difficult to quantify precisely. Nevertheless, the available evidence strongly suggests that the nucleus of Hale-Bopp has an effective radius of at least 15 km and is probably in the range 20 35 km. Thus, the prodigious gas and production rates from this comet are naturally explained by its unusually large size.

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