Some Comets are Naked, and One Just Got Caught Photo-Bombing
Japanese researchers got lucky when a comet they wanted to study was found photo-bombing archival images from Japan's Subaru Telescope. The Subaru, with its 8.2 meter mirror, happened to image comet 28P/Neujmin from just the right angle to accurately characterize its surface. Their work is part of the ongoing effort to understand comets and asteroids, why some of them share properties, and what…
Studying comets is challenging, as they become more visible when near the Sun, but proximity to the star creates a coma that obscures their nucleus. Large telescopes are needed to study comets from a distance, without the thick coma obscuring their view. The National Astronomical Observatory of Japan's Subaru Telescope, located atop the dormant Mauna Kea volcano in Hawaii, has generated a vast image archive for astronomers to study.
A team of Japanese scientists combed through this archive, searching for undiscovered images of a particular comet for their research. This comet, 28P/Neujmin, orbits the Sun every 18 years and is approximately 21 km in diameter, making it one of the larger comets in its Jupiter family group. Unlike most comets, 28P/Neujmin is considered a "naked" comet, meaning it has a very small coma even at large distances from the Sun, allowing scientists to observe its nucleus directly.
This unique feature makes 28P/Neujmin an interesting subject for research, as it shares some characteristics with asteroids, helping to bridge the gap between these two types of celestial bodies.
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