Cometary Comae

Comets are frozen left-overs from our Solar System's epoch of planetary formation. By studying their composition and evolution, we can help infer how the Solar System formed. However, we generally do not directly sense the composition of the cometary nucleus, the kilometer-sized solid body at the center of all comets, but instead study the coma.

The coma is created when the ices within the nucleus are warmed, sublimate, and drive erosion (mass loss). This process is known as cometary activity.

The composition of the coma reflects that of the surface of the nucleus. By studying cometary activity, and the evolution of the surface, we can infer the composition of the interior of the nucleus.

LCO Outbursting Objects Key (LOOK) Project

July 2020 to July 2023

The LOOK Project is using the global Las Cumbres Observatory telescope network to characterize dynamically new comets in support of ESA's Comet Interceptor mission, and to study cometary and asteroidal outbursts.

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Zwicky Transient Facility Survey of Cometary Outbursts

March 18, 2021

Cometary outbursts are brief, but occasionally spectacular, mass-loss events. Some outbursts may allow us to sound the physical properties of a specific location on the nucleus. Others signal fragmentation events or even the complete disintegration of the nucleus. With the Zwicky Transient Facility, we are surveying the comet population for outburst events, and initiating follow-up observations to examine outburst ejecta properties.

Discovery of activity at asteroid 2016 BA₁₄

February 15, 2016

The orbit of asteroid 2016 BA₁₄ has been shown to be remarkably similar to that of comet 252P/LINEAR 12. With both objects headed for close approaches to the Earth in March 2016, we decided to look closely at asteroid BA14, and guess what we found: a comet's tail!

Comet C/2013 US₁₀ (Catalina)

December 5, 2015

Comet Catalina is bright and ready for your small telescopes. I present a toy model of its orbit and some pictures from the Spitzer Space Telescope.

The Spitzer Space Telescope and a Survey of Cometary Activity

January 15, 2015

Water, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide are the most abundant volatile molecules in comet nuclei, and they control comet erosion. Of the three, carbon dioxide is the most challenging to observe due to absorption in the Earth's atmosphere, and therefore it is the least studied. With the Spitzer Space Telescope, we can survey how much carbon dioxide comets produce through their orbits, and assess its role in cometary activity.

Cometary Comae

LCO Outbursting Objects Key (LOOK) Project

July 2020 to July 2023

Zwicky Transient Facility Survey of Cometary Outbursts

March 18, 2021

Discovery of activity at asteroid 2016 BA14

February 15, 2016

Comet C/2013 US10 (Catalina)

December 5, 2015

The Spitzer Space Telescope and a Survey of Cometary Activity

January 15, 2015

Discovery of activity at asteroid 2016 BA₁₄

Comet C/2013 US₁₀ (Catalina)