The NEOWISE-Discovered Comet Population and the CO + CO2 Production Rates
Abstract
The 163 comets observed during the WISE/NEOWISE prime mission represent the largest infrared survey to date of comets, providing constraints on dust, nucleus size, and CO + CO2 production. We present detailed analyses of the WISE/NEOWISE comet discoveries, and discuss observations of the active comets showing 4.6 μm band excess. We find a possible relation between dust and CO + CO2 production, as well as possible differences in the sizes of long and short period comet nuclei.
- Publication:
-
The Astrophysical Journal
- Pub Date:
- December 2015
- DOI:
- 10.1088/0004-637X/814/2/85
- arXiv:
- arXiv:1509.08446
- Bibcode:
- 2015ApJ...814...85B
- Keywords:
-
- comets: general;
- infrared: planetary systems;
- Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- 67 pages, 10 figures, 6 Tables