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1. 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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2. C/2014 UN ₂₇₁ (Bernardinelli-Bernstein): The Nearly Spherical Cow of Comets

   https://doi.org/10.3847/2041-8213/ac32d3  

   Bernardinelli, Pedro H.; Bernstein, Gary M.; Montet, Benjamin T.; Weryk, Robert; Wainscoat, Richard; Aguena, M.; Allam, S.; Andrade-Oliveira, F.; Annis, J.; Avila, S.; et al (November 2021, The Astrophysical Journal Letters)

   Abstract Comet C/2014 UN₂₇₁(Bernardinelli-Bernstein), incoming from the Oort cloud, is remarkable in having the brightest (and presumably largest) nucleus of any well-measured comet and having been discovered at the heliocentric distancer_h≈ 29 au, farther than any Oort cloud comet. In this work, we describe the discovery process and observations and the properties that can be inferred from images recorded until the first reports of activity in 2021 June. The orbit hasi= 95°, with a perihelion of 10.97 au to be reached in 2031 and a previous aphelion at 40,400 ± 260 au. Backward integration of the orbit under a standard Galactic tidal model and known stellar encounters suggests a perihelion ofq≈ 18 au on its previous perihelion passage 3.5 Myr ago; hence, the current data could be the first ever obtained of a comet that has not been inside Uranus’s orbit in 4 Gyr. The photometric data show an unresolved nucleus with absolute magnitudeH_r= 8.0, colors that are typical of comet nuclei or Damocloids, and no secular trend as it traversed the range 34–23 au. For ther-band geometric albedop_r, this implies a diameter of $150{\left(p_r/0.04\right)}^{-0.5}$km. There is strong evidence of brightness fluctuations at the ±0.2 mag level, but no rotation period can be discerned. A coma, nominally consistent with a “stationary” 1/ρsurface brightness distribution, grew in scattering cross section at an exponential rate fromAfρ≈ 1 to ≈150 m as the comet approached from 28 to 20 au. The activity rate is consistent with a very simple model of sublimation of a surface species in radiative equilibrium with the Sun. The inferred enthalpy of sublimation matches those of CO₂and NH₃. More volatile species, such as N₂, CH₄, and CO, must be far less abundant on the sublimating surfaces. 

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3. Evidence for Surprising Heavy Nitrogen Isotopic Enrichment in Comet 46P/Wirtanen’s Hydrogen Cyanide

   https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/ad7829  

   Cordiner, M_A; Darnell, K.; Bockelée-Morvan, D.; Roth, N_X; Biver, N.; Milam, S_N; Charnley, S_B; Boissier, J.; Bonev, B_P; Qi, C.; et al (October 2024, The Planetary Science Journal)

   Abstract 46P/Wirtanen is a Jupiter-family comet, probably originating from the solar system’s Kuiper Belt, that now resides on a 5.4 yr elliptical orbit. During its 2018 apparition, comet 46P passed unusually close to the Earth (within 0.08 au), presenting an outstanding opportunity for close-up observations of its inner coma. Here we present observations of HCN, H¹³CN, and HC¹⁵N emission from 46P using the Atacama Compact Array. The data were analyzed using the SUBLIME non-LTE radiative transfer code to derive¹²C/¹³C and¹⁴N/¹⁵N ratios. The HCN/H¹³CN ratio is found to be consistent with a lack of significant¹³C fractionation, whereas the HCN/HC¹⁵N ratio of 68 ± 27 (using our most conservative 1σuncertainties), indicates a strong enhancement in¹⁵N compared with the solar and terrestrial values. The observed¹⁴N/¹⁵N ratio is also significantly lower than the values of ∼140 found in previous comets, implying a strong¹⁵N enrichment in 46P’s HCN. This indicates that the nitrogen in Jupiter-family comets could reach larger isotopic enrichments than previously thought, with implications for the diversity of¹⁴N/¹⁵N ratios imprinted into icy bodies at the birth of the solar system. 

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4. From Centaurs to Comets - 40 years

   https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-816490-7.00014-X  

   Peixinho, Nuno; Thirouin, Audrey; Tegler, Stephen C.; Di Sisto, Romina; Delsanti, Audrey; Guilbert-Lepoutre, Aurélie; Bauer, James G. (January 2020, Elsevier)

   Review chapter to be published in the book "The Transneptunian Solar System", Editors: Dina; doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-816490-7.00014-X (Ed.)

   In 1977, while Apple II and Atari computers were being sold, a tiny dot was observed in an inconvenient orbit. The minor body 1977 UB, to be named (2060) Chiron, with an orbit between Saturn and Uranus, became the first Centaur, a new class of minor bodies orbiting roughly between Jupiter and Neptune. The observed overabundance of short-period comets lead to the downfall of the Oort cloud as exclusive source of comets and to the rise of the need for a Trans-Neptunian comet belt. Centaurs were rapidly seen as the transition phase between Kuiper belt objects, also known as Trans-Neptunian objects (TNOs) and the Jupiter-family comets (JFCs). Since then, a lot more has been discovered about Centaurs: They can have cometary activity and outbursts, satellites, and even rings. Over the past four decades since the discovery of the first Centaur, rotation periods, surface colors, reflectivity spectra, and albedos have been measured and analyzed. However, despite such a large number of studies and complementary techniques, the Centaur population remains a mystery as they are in so many ways different from the TNOs and even more so from the JFCs. 

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5. The Atacama Cosmology Telescope: A Search for Planet 9

   https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/ac2307  

   Naess, Sigurd; Aiola, Simone; Battaglia, Nick; Bond, Richard J.; Calabrese, Erminia; Choi, Steve K.; Cothard, Nicholas F.; Halpern, Mark; Hill, J. Colin; Koopman, Brian J.; et al (December 2021, The Astrophysical Journal)

   Abstract We use Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT) observations at 98 GHz (2015–2019), 150 GHz (2013–2019), and 229 GHz (2017–2019) to perform a blind shift-and-stack search for Planet 9. The search explores distances from 300 au to 2000 au and velocities up to 6.′3 per year, depending on the distance ( r ). For a 5 Earth-mass Planet 9 the detection limit varies from 325 au to 625 au, depending on the sky location. For a 10 Earth-mass planet the corresponding range is 425 au to 775 au. The predicted aphelion and most likely location of the planet corresponds to the shallower end of these ranges. The search covers the whole 18,000 square degrees of the ACT survey. No significant detections are found, which is used to place limits on the millimeter-wave flux density of Planet 9 over much of its orbit. Overall we eliminate roughly 17% and 9% of the parameter space for a 5 and 10 Earth-mass Planet 9, respectively. These bounds approach those of a recent INPOP19a ephemeris-based analysis, but do not exceed it. We also provide a list of the 10 strongest candidates from the search for possible follow-up. More generally, we exclude (at 95% confidence) the presence of an unknown solar system object within our survey area brighter than 4–12 mJy (depending on position) at 150 GHz with current distance 300 au < r < 600 au and heliocentric angular velocity 1 .′ 5 yr − 1 < v · 500 au r < 2 .″ 3 yr − 1 , corresponding to low-to-moderate eccentricities. These limits worsen gradually beyond 600 au, reaching 5–15 mJy by 1500 au. 

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