Comets and Asteroids

Mass of Particles Released by Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks During 2023-2024 Outbursts

By Keith Cowing
Status Report
astro-ph.EP
January 29, 2025
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Mass of Particles Released by Comet 12P/Pons-Brooks During 2023-2024 Outbursts
Color image of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks, showing the “dark lane” feature visible inside the coma, obtained on 2023 November 19.11 UT. The image was captured remotely using a T68 0.28-m f/2.2 RASA astrograph and CMOS camera at the iTelescope observatory (U94) in the Great Basin Desert, Beryl Junction, Utah, USA. The estimated total magnitude is 8.7, with a coma diameter of 9.1 arcmin. A faint tail, approximately 17.7 arcmin in length, is visible at a position angle of 44◦ — astro-ph.EP

During its most recent return, comet 12P/Pons-Brooks experienced 14 well-documented outbursts, observed between June 13, 2023, and April 2024, at heliocentric distances ranging from 4.26au to 0.85au.

After perihelion, the comet experienced two additional outbursts between June and August 31, 2024, at heliocentric distances of 1.20au and 2.26au, respectively. Using observational data, we developed a numerical model to estimate the mass ejected during these events, focusing on the sublimation of ice through the porous cometary nucleus. The key factors affecting ejected mass estimates are the outburst amplitude and the active surface area during both quiet sublimation and the outburst phases.

Pogson’s law was used to express outburst magnitude, incorporating scattering cross-sections of cometary agglomerates. The model iteratively determined the mass ejected in observed outbursts, considering various ice types (H2O and CO2) controlling sublimation activity.

Our results indicate that the mass ejected during these outbursts ranges from 1010 to 1013 kg. Our findings highlight the significant role of surface morphology and thermodynamic conditions in cometary outbursts, providing insights into the mechanisms driving these phenomena and their implications for cometary evolution and dust trail formation. Based on the analysis of observational data, we propose a six-level classification system for cometary outbursts.

Maria Gritsevich, Marcin Wesołowski, Taras Prystavski, Alberto J. Castro-Tirado

Comments: Submitted to Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society
Subjects: Earth and Planetary Astrophysics (astro-ph.EP); Instrumentation and Methods for Astrophysics (astro-ph.IM)
Cite as: arXiv:2501.15958 [astro-ph.EP] (or arXiv:2501.15958v1 [astro-ph.EP] for this version)
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2501.15958
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Submission history
From: Maria Gritsevich
[v1] Mon, 27 Jan 2025 11:05:44 UTC (2,407 KB)
https://arxiv.org/abs/2501.15958
Astrobiology,

Keith Cowing

Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA Space Station Payload manager/space biologist, Away Teams, Journalist, Lapsed climber, Synaesthete, Na’Vi-Jedi-Freman-Buddhist-mix, ASL, Devon Island and Everest Base Camp veteran, (he/him) 🖖🏻

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