Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• TRIGO-RODRIGUEZ, J. M
• GARCIA-MELENDO, E
• DAVIDSSON, B. J. R
• SANCHEZ, A
• RODDGUEZ, D
• LACRUZ, J
• DE LOS REYES, J. A
• PASTOR, S

Titel

Outburst activity in comets I. Continuous monitoring of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1

Ist Teil von

• Astronomy and astrophysics (Berlin), 2008-07, Vol.485 (2), p.599-606

Ort / Verlag

Les Ulis: EDP Sciences

Erscheinungsjahr

2008

Quelle

EZB Free E-Journals

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Aims. We carried out a continuous monitoring of comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 by using medium aperture telescopes with the aim of studying the activity and outburst mechanisms of this comet on the basis of photometric variations. Methods. We used a standardized method to obtain the coma photometry in the R filter of the Johnson-Kron-Cousins system. Some abrupt changes observed in the brightness of SW1 suggest important variations in surface activity with time. Results. During our 2002-2007 observational campaign we detected 28 outbursts (of 1 mag or larger) in 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1. A typical outburst is characterized by a rapid increase towards maximum (in a few hours) and a slower decrease toward the quiescent level (in 3-4 days). Given the effective observing time, the average outburst rate is 7.3 events per year. Despite well-sampled data, no signs of a clear periodicity in the outburst occurrence has been found, thus confirming the unpredictability of the activity of this comet.