Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) as seen with the Herschel Space Observatory

Kiss, Csaba and Müller, T. G. and Kidger, M. and Mattisson, P. and Marton, Gábor (2015) Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) as seen with the Herschel Space Observatory. ASTRONOMY & ASTROPHYSICS, 574. ISSN 0004-6361

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Abstract

The thermal emission of comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) was observed on March 31, 2013, at a heliocentric distance of 6.48 au using the PACS photometer camera of the Herschel Space Observatory. The comet was clearly active, showing a coma that could be traced to a distance of ∼10′′, i.e. ∼50000 km. Analysis of the radial intensity profiles of the coma provided dust mass and dust production rate; the derived grain size distribution characteristics indicate an overabundance of large grains in the thermal emission. We estimate that activity started about 6 months before these observations, at a heliocentric distance of ∼8 au.

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