Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8134413 | Icarus | 2018 | 6 Pages |
Abstract
C/2002 CE10 is an object in a retrograde elliptical orbit with Tisserand parameter â0.853 indicating a likely origin in the Oort Cloud. It appears to be a rather inactive comet since no coma and only a very weak tail was detected during the past perihelion passage. We present multi-color optical photometry, lightcurve and thermal mid-IR observations of the asteroidal comet. With the photometric analysis in BVRI, the surface color is found to be redder than asteroids, corresponding to cometary nuclei and TNOs/Centaurs. The time-resolved differential photometry supports a rotation period of 8.19 â¯Â±â¯â0.05 h. The effective diameter and the geometric albedo are 17.9ââ¯Â±â¯â0.9 km and 0.03ââ¯Â±â¯â0.01, respectively, indicating a very dark reflectance of the surface. The dark and redder surface color of C/2002 CE10 may be attribute to devolatilized material by surface aging suffered from the irradiation by cosmic rays or from impact by dust particles in the Oort Cloud. Alternatively, C/2002 CE10 was formed of very dark refractory material originally like a rocky planetesimal. In both cases, this object lacks ices (on the surface at least). The dynamical and known physical characteristics of C/2002 CE10 are best compatible with those of the Damocloids population in the Solar System, that appear to be exhaust cometary nucleus in Halley-type orbits. The study of physical properties of rocky Oort cloud objects may give us a key for the formation of the Oort cloud and the solar system.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Earth and Planetary Sciences
Space and Planetary Science
Authors
Tomohiko Sekiguchi, Seidai Miyasaka, Budi Dermawan, Thomas Mueller, Naruhisa Takato, Junichi Watanabe, Hermann Boehnhardt,