Bibcode
Campins, H.; Licandro, J.; Guerra, J.; Chamberlain, M.; Pantin, E.
Bibliographical reference
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #35, #47.02; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 35, p.1011
Advertised on:
5
2003
Citations
1
Refereed citations
1
Description
Jupiter-family comets are of particular interest for several reasons,
including the fact that they are the most accessible to spacecraft.
These comets also present the best opportunities to study cometary
nuclear surfaces. The characterization of cometary nuclear surfaces and
their comparison with those of related populations such as extinct comet
candidates, Centaurs, near-Earth asteroids, transneptunian objects and
Trojan asteroids is essential to understanding the origin and evolution
of these objects. Comet 28P/Neujmin 1 is among the largest and least
active of the Jupiter-family comets (Campins et al. 1987, Astrophys. J.
vol. 316, p. 847). We obtained low-resolution infrared spectra (0.8 to
2.4 microns) of 28P/Neujmin 1 on two occasions with the 3.56 m
Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG) using NICS, the near-infrared camera
and spectrometer. Our first spectrum was obtained on UT June 1, 2001
(Campins et al. 2001, DPS meeting #33, #31.08) and the second spectrum
on UT May 2, 2002. As expected, no detectable coma was found in
comparisons of the comet images with stellar point-spread-functions. The
slopes of the 2001 and 2002 infrared spectra are significantly
different, with a much flatter spectrum in 2001. The spectral change
appears real since no problems were detected in the solar analog stars
on either date. The change we observed in the infrared spectral slope is
consistent with sporadic changes in the V, R and I colors reported in
this comet by Delahodde et al. (2001; Astron. and Astrophys. vol. 376,
p. 672). Possible mechanisms for this spectral change will be discussed.
This work was supported in part by grants from NASA and NSF.