Photometry, rotation period determination and dust coma numerical study of comet C/2017 K2 (PanStarrs)

Abstract

C/2017 K2 (Pan-STARRS) is an Oort cloud comet discovered in May 2017. Ground observations have revealed that this long-period comet was active at a heliocentric distance beyond 20 au. Several studies observed this object when it was far from the Sun and proposed that, at such a distance, its activity is primarily driven by the sublimation of super-volatile ices such as $\mathrm{CO}$ and ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$.

The aim of this paper is to analyze the comet’s dust behavior when it was much closer to the Sun. A series of images were taken on different observation routines between July and August 2022 with the 0.6 m Helen Sawyer Hogg (HSH) telescope at the Complejo Astronómico El Leoncito (CASLEO), using broadband V and R filters. The objective was to conduct a morphological, photometric, and numerical analysis of this comet.

Digital filters were applied to enhance contrast in the cometary images, revealing an active region embedded within an isotropic coma. Analysis of the magnitudes and dust production rate from the $A(0°)f\rho$ parameter suggests a steady-state dust behavior, consistent with findings from other authors.

Moreover, thanks to the images covering a significant time span, it was possible to determine the comet’s rotation period using a periodogram analysis with the Phase Dispersion Minimization method (PDM) and to calculate the coordinates of the rotation axis, yielding a rotation period of 14.24 h with a pole situated at the ecliptic longitude and latitude of $(244°,-20°)$.

Finally, to gain deeper insights into C/2017 K2’s dust behavior, observations were fitted to a newly developed theoretical model for studying dust comas. The analysis suggests that the comet’s dust coma was principally formed by large dust particles emitted at a velocity of $180{\mathrm{ms}}^{-1}$.