Bibcode
Gilbert, A. M.; Wiegert, P. A.; Unda-Sanzana, E.; Vaduvescu, O.
Bibliographical reference
Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, Volume 401, Issue 4, pp. 2399-2405.
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2
2010
Citations
2
Refereed citations
2
Description
Spectral data are presented for comets 2006 VZ13 (LINEAR), 2006 K4
(NEAT), 2006 OF2 (Broughton), 2P/Encke and 93P/Lovas I, obtained with
the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory 1.5-m telescope in 2007
August. Comet 2006 VZ13 is a new Oort cloud comet and shows strong lines
of CN (3880 Å), the Swan band sequence for C2 (4740,
5160 and 5630 Å), C3 (4056 Å) and other faint
species. Lines are also identified in the spectra of the other comets.
Flux measurements of the CN, C2(Δv = +1, 0) and
C3 lines are recorded for each comet and production rates and
ratios are derived. When considering the comets as a group, there is a
correlation of C2 and C3 production with CN, but
there is no conclusive evidence that the production rate ratios depend
on heliocentric distance. The continuum is also measured, and the dust
production and dust-to-gas ratios are calculated. There is a general
trend, for the group of comets, between the dust-to-gas ratio and
heliocentric distance, but it does not depend on dynamical age or class.
Comet 2006 VZ13 is determined to be in the carbon-depleted (or Tempel 1
type) class.
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This project studies the physical and compositional properties of the so-called minor bodies of the Solar System, that includes asteroids, icy objects, and comets. Of special interest are the trans-neptunian objects (TNOs), including those considered the most distant objects detected so far (Extreme-TNOs or ETNOs); the comets and the comet-asteroid
Julia de
León Cruz