164 citations · 305 across the 19 of their papers we have counts for
19 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…
Changes in Pluto's Atmosphere Based on Stellar Occultation Data from 2017 to 2023
Amanda A. Sickafoose, Michael J. Person, Carlos A. Zuluaga +14
Pluto's tenuous atmosphere has bar-level pressure and is composed primarily of , with a variable haze. Its eccentric orbit combined with high obliquity leads to si…
A Look at Eight Outbursts of Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke
Ky Huynh, Michael S. P. Kelley, Jessica M. Sunshine +6
Cometary outbursts may be used as a means to infer the physical processes occurring on cometary nuclei. To that end, we studied eight outbursts of comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke identified…
Astrometric follow-up of near-Earth asteroid 2024 YR4 during a Torino scale level 3 alert
Marco Micheli, Maxime Devogèle, Larry Denneau +38
The discovery of 2024 YR4 presented the planetary defense community with the most significant impact threat in almost two decades, reaching level 3 on the Torino scale. The communi…
Sequential Fragmentation of C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) After Its Near-Sun Passage
Dennis Bodewits, John W. Noonan, Michael S. P. Kelley +6
Comet C/2025 K1 (ATLAS) reached perihelion at 0.33 au on 2025 October 8. Daily monitoring by the LCO Outbursting Objects Key Project revealed a major activity increase between Nove…
Discovery and Preliminary Characterization of a Third Interstellar Object: 3I/ATLAS
Darryl Z. Seligman, Marco Micheli, Davide Farnocchia +44
We report initial observations aimed at the characterization of a third interstellar object. This object, 3I/ATLAS or C/2025 N1 (ATLAS), was discovered on 2025 July 1 UT and has an…
NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Observations of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS (C/2025 N1)
Colin Orion Chandler, Pedro H. Bernardinelli, Mario Jurić +305
We report on the observation and measurement of astrometry, photometry, morphology, and activityof the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, also designated C/2025 N1 (ATLAS) with the NSF-…
A Large Outburst, Coma Asymmetries, and the Color of Comet 243P/NEAT
Michael S. P. Kelley, Silvia Protopapa, Dennis Bodewits +16
Water ice is a fundamental building material of comets and other bodies in the outer solar system. Yet, the properties of cometary water ice are challenging to study, due to its vo…
First Detection of Molecular Activity in the Largest Known Oort Cloud Comet: ALMA Imaging of C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) at 16.6 au from the Sun
Nathan X. Roth, Stefanie N. Milam, Martin A. Cordiner +12
We report observations of comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli-Bernstein) carried out on UT 2024 March 8 and 17 at a heliocentric distance () of 16.6 au using the Atac…
Rubin ToO 2024: Envisioning the Vera C. Rubin Observatory LSST Target of Opportunity program
Igor Andreoni, Raffaella Margutti, John Banovetz +86
The Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST) at Vera C. Rubin Observatory is planned to begin in the Fall of 2025. The LSST survey cadence has been designed via a community-driven pr…
Analysing the Onset of Cometary Activity by the Jupiter-Family Comet 2023 RN3
Matthew M. Dobson, Megan E. Schwamb, Alan Fitzsimmons +17
We utilize serendipitous observations from the Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System (ATLAS) and the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) in addition to targeted follow-up obser…
Coma composition and profiles of comet 12P/Pons-Brooks using long-slit spectroscopy
Lea Ferellec, Cyrielle Opitom, Abbie Donaldson +4
Comet 12P/Pons-Brook exhibited multiple large and minor outbursts in 2023 on its way to its 2024 perihelion, as it has done during its previous apparitions. We obtained long-slit o…
The Discovery and Evolution of a Possible New Epoch of Cometary Activity by the Centaur (2060) Chiron
Matthew M. Dobson, Megan E. Schwamb, Alan Fitzsimmons +24
Centaurs are small Solar System objects on chaotic orbits in the giant planet region, forming an evolutionary continuum with the Kuiper belt objects and Jupiter-family comets. Some…
Photometry of the Didymos system across the DART impact apparition
Nicholas Moskovitz, Cristina Thomas, Petr Pravec +78
On 26 September 2022, the Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft impacted Dimorphos, the satellite of binary near-Earth asteroid (65803) Didymos. This demonstrated the…
Ejecta Evolution Following a Planned Impact into an Asteroid: The First Five Weeks
Theodore Kareta, Cristina Thomas, Jian-Yang Li +85
The impact of the DART spacecraft into Dimorphos, moon of the asteroid Didymos, changed Dimorphos' orbit substantially, largely from the ejection of material. We present results fr…
Orbital Period Change of Dimorphos Due to the DART Kinetic Impact
Cristina A. Thomas, Shantanu P. Naidu, Peter Scheirich +46
The Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) spacecraft successfully performed the first test of a kinetic impactor for asteroid deflection by impacting Dimorphos, the secondary of…
A stellar occultation by Vanth, a satellite of (90482) Orcus
A. A. Sickafoose, A. S. Bosh, S. E. Levine +5
A stellar occultation by the large trans-Neptunian object (90482) Orcus was predicted to occur on 2017 March 07. Observations were made at five sites in North and South America. Hi…
Results from the Worldwide Coma Morphology Campaign for Comet ISON (C/2012 S1)
Nalin H. Samarasinha, 48 co-authors
We present the results of a global coma morphology campaign for comet C/2012 S1 (ISON), which was organized to involve both professional and amateur observers. In response to the c…
Discovery of Main-Belt Comet P/2006 VW139 by Pan-STARRS1
Henry H. Hsieh, Bin Yang, Nader Haghighipour +39
Main belt asteroid (300163) 2006 VW139 (later designated P/2006 VW139) was discovered to exhibit comet-like activity by the Pan-STARRS1 survey telescope using automated point-sprea…