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1. The Return of the Rosetta Target: Keck Near-infrared Observations of Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko in 2021

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/acee59  

   Bonev, Boncho P; Dello_Russo, Neil; Kawakita, Hideyo; Vervack_Jr, Ronald J; DiSanti, Michael A; Shinnaka, Yoshiharu; Ootsubo, Takafumi; Gibb, Erika L; Combi, Michael R; Altwegg, Kathrin; et al (November 2023, The Astronomical Journal)

   Abstract High-resolution near-infrared ground-based spectroscopic observations of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko near its maximum activity in 2021 were conducted from the W. M. Keck Observatory, using the facility spectrograph NIRSPEC. 67P is the best-studied comet to date because of the unprecedented detail and insights provided by the Rosetta mission during 2014–2016. Because 67P is the only comet where the detailed abundances of many coma volatiles were measured in situ, determining its composition from the ground provides a unique opportunity to interpret Rosetta results within the context of the large database of ground-based compositional measurements of comets. However, previous apparitions, including in 2015, have been unfavorable for in-depth ground-based studies of parent volatiles in 67P. The 2021 apparition of 67P was thus the first-ever opportunity for such observations. We report gas spatial distributions, rotational temperatures, production rates, and relative abundances (or stringent upper limits) among seven volatile species: C₂H₂, C₂H₆, HCN, NH₃, CH₃OH, H₂CO, and H₂O. The measured abundances of trace species relative to water reveal near average or below average values compared to previous comets studied at infrared wavelengths. Both gas rotational temperatures and the spatial distributions of H₂O, C₂H₆, and HCN measured with Keck-NIRSPEC in 2021 are consistent with the outgassing patterns revealed by Rosetta in 2015 at very similar heliocentric distance  (post-perihelion). These results can be integrated with both Rosetta mission findings and ground-based cometary studies of the overall comet population, for which we encourage a wide-scale collaboration across measurement techniques. 

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2. Comprehensive Study of the Chemical Composition and Spatial Outgassing Behavior of Hyperactive Comet 46P/Wirtanen Using Near-IR Spectroscopy during its Historic 2018 Apparition

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-3881/acc074  

   Khan, Younas; Gibb, Erika L.; Roth, Nathan X.; DiSanti, Michael A.; Dello Russo, Neil; Bonev, Boncho P.; Ejeta, Chemeda T.; Saki, Mohammad; Vervack, Ronald J.; McKay, Adam J.; et al (May 2023, The Astronomical Journal)

   Abstract We present a comprehensive analysis of the chemical composition of the Jupiter-family comet and potential spacecraft target 46P/Wirtanen, in the near-IR wavelength range. We used iSHELL at the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility to observe the comet on 11 pre-, near-, and postperihelion dates in 2018 December and 2019 January and February during its historic apparition. We report rotational temperatures, production rates, and mixing ratios with respect to H 2 O and C 2 H 6 or 3 σ upper limits of the primary volatiles H 2 O, HCN, CH 4 , C 2 H 6 , CH 3 OH, H 2 CO, NH 3 , CO, C 2 H 2 , and HC 3 N. We also discuss the spatial outgassing of the primary volatiles, to understand their sources and the spatial associations between them. The spatial profiles of H 2 O in 46P/Wirtanen suggest the presence of extended H 2 O outgassing sources in the coma, similar to the EPOXI target comet 103P/Hartley 2. 46P/Wirtanen is among the few known hyperactive comets, and we note that its composition and outgassing behavior are similar to those of other hyperactive comets in many ways. We note that the analyzed parent volatiles showed different variations (relative mixing ratios) during the apparition. We compared the chemical composition of 46P/Wirtanen with the mean abundances in Jupiter-family comets and the comet population as measured with ground-based near-IR facilities to date. The molecular abundances in 46P/Wirtanen suggest that although they were changing, the variations were small compared to the range in the comet population, with CH 3 OH showing notably more variation as compared to the other molecules. 

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3. Coma composition of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from radio-wave spectroscopy

   https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361/202245672  

   Biver, N.; Bockelée-Morvan, D.; Crovisier, J.; Sandqvist, Aa.; Boissier, J.; Lis, D. C.; Cordiner, M.; Bonev, B. P.; Dello Russo, N.; Moreno, R.; et al (April 2023, Astronomy & Astrophysics)

   We present the results of a molecular survey of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko undertaken with the Institut de RadioAstronomie Millimétrique (IRAM) 30-m radio telescope in November–December 2021, when it had its most favourable apparition in decades. Observations at IRAM 30-m during the 12–16 November period covered 8 GHz bandwidth at 3 mm, 16 GHz at 2 mm, and 60 GHz in the 1 mm window domain. These were completed by snapshots at 1 mm on 12–13 December and a short observation of the H 2 O line at 557 GHz with the Odin sub-millimetre observatory on 17.0 November 2021, and with 18-cm observations of OH with the Nançay radio telescope. Less sensitive observations obtained at a previous perihelion passage on 18–22 September 2015 with IRAM and 9–12 November 2015 with Odin are also presented. The gas outflow velocity, outgassing pattern, and temperature have been accurately constrained by the observations. They are perfectly consistent with those measured in situ with the Rosetta/MIRO sub-millimetre instrument in 2015. In particular, the asymmetry of the line is well represented by a jet concentrating three-quarters of the outgassing in about π steradians. We derived abundances relative to water for seven molecules and significant upper limits for approximately five others. The retrieved abundances were compared to those measured in situ at the previous perihelion with Rosetta. While those of HCN, CH 3 OH, and HNCO are comparable, 67P is found to be depleted in H 2 S and relatively normal in CS (H 2 S/CS ≈ 3) in strong contradiction with the Rosetta/ROSINA mass spectrometer measurement of the H 2 S/CS 2 (≈100) abundance ratio. While the formaldehyde total abundance found with IRAM 30-m when assuming it to be mostly produced by a distributed source (Haser parent scale length ≈8000 km) is similar to the one derived by Rosetta/ROSINA, we find that the formaldehyde coming from the nucleus is one order of magnitude less abundant than measured in situ by Rosetta/ROSINA. 

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4. Comet P/2021 HS (PANSTARRS) and the Challenge of Detecting Low-activity Comets

   https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/acbfbb  

   Ye, Quanzhi; Kelley, Michael S.; Bauer, James M.; Farnham, Tony L.; Bodewits, Dennis; Buzzi, Luca; Weryk, Robert; Masci, Frank J.; Medford, Michael S.; Riddle, Reed; et al (March 2023, The Planetary Science Journal)

   Abstract Jupiter-family comet (JFC) P/2021 HS (PANSTARRS) only exhibits a coma within a few weeks of its perihelion passage at 0.8 au, which is atypical for a comet. Here we present an investigation into the underlying cause using serendipitous survey detections and targeted observations. We find that the detection of the activity is caused by an extremely faint coma being enhanced by the forward scattering effect owing to the comet reaching a phase angle of ∼140°. The coma morphology is consistent with sustained, sublimation-driven activity produced by a small active area, ∼700 m 2 , one of the smallest values ever measured on a comet. The phase function of the nucleus shows a phase coefficient of 0.035 ± 0.002 mag deg −1 , implying an absolute magnitude of H = 18.31 ± 0.04 and a phase slope of G = − 0.13, with color consistent with typical JFC nuclei. Thermal observations suggest a nucleus diameter of 0.6–1.1 km, implying an optical albedo of 0.04–0.23, which is higher than typical cometary nuclei. An unsuccessful search for dust trail and meteor activity confirms minimal dust deposit along the orbit, totaling ≲10 8 kg. As P/2021 HS is dynamically unstable, similar to typical JFCs, we speculate that it has an origin in the trans-Neptunian region and that its extreme depletion of volatiles is caused by a large number of previous passages to the inner solar system. The dramatic discovery of the cometary nature of P/2021 HS highlights the challenges of detecting comets with extremely low activity levels. Observations at high phase angle, where forward scattering is pronounced, will help identify such comets. 

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5. Gas Sources from the Coma and Nucleus of Comet 46P/Wirtanen Observed Using ALMA

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ace0bc  

   Cordiner, M. A.; Roth, N. X.; Milam, S. N.; Villanueva, G. L.; Bockelée-Morvan, D.; Remijan, A. J.; Charnley, S. B.; Biver, N.; Lis, D. C.; Qi, C.; et al (August 2023, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract Gas-phase molecules in cometary atmospheres (comae) originate primarily from (1) outgassing by the nucleus, (2) sublimation of icy grains in the near-nucleus coma, and (3) coma (photo)chemical processes. However, the majority of cometary gases observed at radio wavelengths have yet to be mapped, so their production/release mechanisms remain uncertain. Here we present observations of six molecular species toward comet 46P/Wirtanen, obtained using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array during the comet’s unusually close (∼0.1 au) approach to Earth in 2018 December. Interferometric maps of HCN, CH 3 OH, CH 3 CN, H 2 CO, CS, and HNC were obtained at an unprecedented sky-projected spatial resolution of up to 25 km, enabling the nucleus and coma sources of these molecules to be accurately quantified. The HCN, CH 3 OH, and CH 3 CN spatial distributions are consistent with production by direct outgassing from (or very close to) the nucleus, with a significant proportion of the observed CH 3 OH originating from sublimation of icy grains in the near-nucleus coma (at a scale length L p = 36 ± 7 km). On the other hand, H 2 CO, CS, and HNC originate primarily from distributed coma sources (with L p values in the range 550–16,000 km), the identities of which remain to be established. The HCN, CH 3 OH, and HNC abundances in 46P are consistent with the average values previously observed in comets, whereas the H 2 CO, CH 3 CN, and CS abundances are relatively low. 

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