A Study of the Nuclei of Earth-Approaching Comets

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Dr. Campins will continue an ongoing study of Earth-approaching comets. This study involves an observational approach pioneered very successfully by Dr. Campins in the study of Comets Neujmin 1, Arend-Regaux, and Tempel 2. This approach employs simultaneous visible and infrared wavelength observations of comets that pass within 1.5 Astronomical Units of Earth. The observations will yield the size, albedo, color, rotational characteristics and approximate shape of the nuclei of several comets chosen for study. The results obtained from the previous study of three comets, and the results from Comet Halley, have provided tantalizing insights into the nature of cometary nuclei; however, the sample of properly observed comets consists of only four objects. The goal of this project is to double this number over the next three years. Knowledge of the nuclear properties for a statistically meaningful sample of comets will allow general conclusions to be drawn about the processes that determine these properties, and about the relationship between comets and other minor bodies in the Solar System, such as Earth-approaching asteroids, and meteorites.