First Results from TESS Observations of Comet 46P/Wirtanen

Abstract

We report on initial results from 20 days' worth of TESS spacecraft observations of comet 46P/Wirtanen. The long-duration, high-cadence measurements show a 2018 September 26 outburst that exhibited a two-phase, 0.5 mag brightening profile, and may be the best temporally characterized natural outburst ever recorded. Gas velocities from the outburst peaked at 800 m s${}^{-1}$, while dust expanded at only 10s of m s${}^{-1}$. Coadded images also revealed a previously unreported dust trail that extends beyond the 24${}^{\circ }$ field of view.

9 pages, 5 figures

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Cited by in corpus (5)

• Emission from HCN and CH${}_3$OH in comets. Onsala 20-m observations and radiative transfer modelling
• Six Outbursts of Comet 46P/Wirtanen
• Pre-discovery TESS Observations of Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS
• The TESS Mission Target Selection Procedure
• Analysis of Hybrid Gas-Dust Outbursts Observed at 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko