Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics – Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Scientific paper
2011-05-04
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
30 pages, 14 figures; accepted for publication in AJ
Scientific paper
We present a physical characterization of main-belt comet 176P/LINEAR. Observations show the object exhibiting a fan-shaped tail in late 2005, but then becoming inactive in early 2006. Using data from 2007 when the object was observed to be inactive, we derive best-fit IAU phase function parameters of H=15.10 mag and G=0.15, linear phase function parameters of m(1,1,0)=15.35 mag and Beta=0.038 mag/deg, and a rotation period of P_rot=22.23 hr and a photometric range of delta~0.7 mag. In 2005, the nucleus exhibits a significantly smaller photometric range that is attributed to viewing geometry effects. An analysis of these effects showed that 176P likely has an axis ratio of 1.8
Hsieh Henry H.
Ishiguro Masateru
Jewitt David
Lacerda Pedro
No associations
LandOfFree
Physical Properties of Main-Belt Comet 176P/LINEAR 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 Physical Properties of Main-Belt Comet 176P/LINEAR, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Physical Properties of Main-Belt Comet 176P/LINEAR will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-688854