4 papers
Multi-year Ground-Based Survey Photometry of Active Comet 103P/Hartley 2 and Centaur (2060) Chiron: A Tale of Two Comets in the Pre-LSST Era
Joseph Murtagh, Megan E. Schwamb, Michael S. P. Kelley +22
Comets and Centaurs trace the evolution of trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) into the inner solar system. Their activity reflects the interplay between volatile sublimation, dust dyna…
On the Border: Searching for Cometary Activity Near the Centaur-JFC Transition Line
A. Fraser Gillan, Alan Fitzsimmons, Colin Orion Chandler +2
Current wide-field surveys discover ~15 Jupiter-family comets (JFCs) each year, typically identified via visual detection of a dust coma or tail. The same surveys also discover man…
ATLAS Photometry of Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS
John Tonry, Larry Denneau, Miguel Alarcon +7
We present calibrated ATLAS photometry of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1) from 28 March through 29 Aug 2025, obtained with the five-site, robotic ATLAS network in the c…
Dust production rates in Jupiter-family comets II: Trends and population insights from ATLAS photometry of 116 JFCs
A. Fraser Gillan, Alan Fitzsimmons, Larry Denneau +4
Jupiter-family comets (JFCs) have orbital periods of less than 20 years and therefore undergo more frequent sublimation compared to other comet populations. The JFCs therefore repr…