The Evolutionary State of Near-Earth Comet 7P/Pons–Winnecke

期刊论文
发表日期：

2024年7月12日

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A. O. Novichonok,
A. A. Shmal’ts,
S. V. Nazarov,
A. S. Pozanenko,
E. V. Novichonok,
M. A. Tereshina,
V. A. Voropaev

摘要

Abstract

7P/Pons–Winnecke is a near-Earth short-period comet of a moderate activity level. In this paper, we present the analysis of observations performed during a favorable apparition of the comet in 2021, indicating its status as a transitional ageing comet. The sublimation starts when the comet is close to the Sun, at a distance of R_ON = 1.76 ± 0.1 AU, and continues for ~13 months, which is apparently caused by residual reserves of water ice. The dust production rate of the comet is not high even at perihelion (<150 kg/s), and the 1.4-percent active portion of the nucleus area is sufficient to provide this mass loss. The photometric age of the comet is P_AGE = 54.4 comet years; being combined with a light curve amplitude of A_SEC(1;1) = 5.5^m, this age corresponds to the state of a transitional middle-aged comet.