The Nucleus of Main-Belt Comet 259P/Garradd

Abstract

We present observations of the main-belt comet 259P/Garradd, previously known as P/2008 R1 (Garradd), obtained in 2011 and 2012 using the Gemini North Telescope on Mauna Kea in Hawaii, and the SOAR Telescope at Cerro Pachon in Chile, with the goal of computing the object's phase function and nucleus size. We find an absolute magnitude of $H_R=19.71\pm 0.05$ mag and slope parameter of $G_R=-0.08\pm 0.05$ for the inactive nucleus, corresponding to an effective nucleus radius of $r_e=0.30\pm 0.02$ km, assuming an $R$-band albedo of $p_R=0.05$. We also revisit observations reported for 259P while it was active in 2008 to quantify the dust mass loss and compare the object with other known main-belt comets.

References in corpus (17)

• The Active Asteroids
• Hubble Space Telescope Observations of Main Belt Comet (596) Scheila
• A collision in 2009 as the origin of the debris trail of asteroid P/2010 A2
• Collisional Excavation of Asteroid (596) Scheila
• Main-Belt Comet P/2008 R1 (Garradd)
• Albedos of Main-Belt Comets 133P/Elst-Pizarro and 176P/LINEAR
• Physical Properties of Main-Belt Comet P/2005 U1 (Read)
• Optical and Dynamical Characterization of Comet-Like Main-Belt Asteroid (596) Scheila
• Discovery of Main-Belt Comet P/2006 VW139 by Pan-STARRS1
• Testing the comet nature of main belt comets. The spectra of 133P/Elst-Pizarro and 176P/LINEAR
• Main-Belt Comet 238P/Read Revisited
• Interpretation of (596) Scheila's Triple Dust Tails
• Observational and Dynamical Characterization of Main-Belt Comet P/2010 R2 (La Sagra)
• Physical Properties of Main-Belt Comet 176P/LINEAR
• P/2006 VW139: A Main-Belt Comet Born in an Asteroid Collision?
• WISE/NEOWISE observations of Active Bodies in the Main Belt
• The activity of Main Belt comets

Cited by in corpus (11)

• The Main Belt Comets and Ice in the Solar System
• The Main-Belt Comets: The Pan-STARRS1 Perspective
• Asteroid Family Associations of Active Asteroids
• SAFARI: Searching Asteroids For Activity Revealing Indicators
• Main-belt comets in the Palomar Transient Factory survey: I. The search for extendedness
• The Nucleus of Main-Belt Comet P/2010 R2 (La Sagra)
• Asteroid-Comet Continuum Objects in the Solar System
• X-shooter search for outgassing from Main Belt Comet P/2012 T1 (Pan-STARRS)
• Search for the Return of Activity in Active Asteroid 176P/LINEAR
• The Reactivation and Nucleus Characterization of Main-Belt Comet 358P/PANSTARRS (P/2012 T1)
• Physical properties of newly active asteroid 2010 LH15