The NEOWISE-Discovered Comet Population and the CO + CO₂ Production Rates

December 2015 • 2015ApJ...814...85B

Authors • Bauer, James M. • Stevenson, Rachel • Kramer, Emily • Mainzer, A. K. • Grav, Tommy • Masiero, Joseph R. • Fernández, Yan R. • Cutri, Roc M. • Dailey, John W. • Masci, Frank J. • Meech, Karen J. • Walker, Russel • Lisse, C. M. • Weissman, Paul R. • Nugent, Carrie R. • Sonnett, Sarah • Blair, Nathan • Lucas, Andrew • McMillan, Robert S. • Wright, Edward L. • WISE, the • NEOWISE Teams

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.

Links

• PDF https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/814/2/85/pdf
• PREPRINT http://arxiv.org/abs/1509.08446
• ELECTR https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/0004-637X/814/2/85