TY - JOUR
T1 - First observations of an outbursting comet with the MUSE integral-field spectrograph
AU - Opitom, C.
AU - Yang, B.
AU - Selman, F.
AU - Reyes, C.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© ESO 2019.
PY - 2019/8/1
Y1 - 2019/8/1
N2 - We present the first observations of outbursting comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE). The comet was observed on April 9, 2017, only five days after it underwent a significant outburst during which the total brightness increased by a factor of ~7.5. Based on the MUSE observations, we produce simultaneous maps of the CN, C2, NH2 comae, and the dust coma. In turn, we applied image enhancement techniques in order to reveal features in the coma. By comparing the coma morphology for the dust and CN, C2, and NH2, we investigate the release mechanism of those gas species in the coma of comet ER61. We present evidence that NH2 could be released by icy or organic-rich dust grains.
AB - We present the first observations of outbursting comet C/2015 ER61 (PANSTARRS) with the Multi-Unit Spectroscopic Explorer (MUSE). The comet was observed on April 9, 2017, only five days after it underwent a significant outburst during which the total brightness increased by a factor of ~7.5. Based on the MUSE observations, we produce simultaneous maps of the CN, C2, NH2 comae, and the dust coma. In turn, we applied image enhancement techniques in order to reveal features in the coma. By comparing the coma morphology for the dust and CN, C2, and NH2, we investigate the release mechanism of those gas species in the coma of comet ER61. We present evidence that NH2 could be released by icy or organic-rich dust grains.
KW - Comets: individual: C/2016 ER61 (PANSTARRS)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85071756298&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1051/0004-6361/201833960
DO - 10.1051/0004-6361/201833960
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85071756298
SN - 0004-6361
VL - 628
JO - Astronomy and Astrophysics
JF - Astronomy and Astrophysics
M1 - A128
ER -