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Issue A&A Volume 407, Number 2, August IV 2003 Page(s) L37 - L40 Section Letters DOI 10.1051/0004-6361:20031066

A&A 407, L37-L40 (2003)
DOI: 10.1051/0004-6361:20031066

Letter

New spin period determination for comet 6P/d'Arrest

P. J. Gutiérrez¹, J. de León², L. Jorda¹, J. Licandro³, L. M. Lara⁴ and P. Lamy<sup>1

1</sup>  Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille, BP 8, 13376 Marseille Cedex 12, France
²  Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, C/Via Lactea s/n, 38200 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
³  Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes & Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias, PO Box 321, 38700 Santa Cruz de La Palma, Tenerife, Spain
⁴  Instituto de Astrofísica de Andalucía, CSIC, PO Box 3004, 18080 Granada, Spain

(Received 22 May 2003 / Accepted 3 July 2003)

Abstract
A lightcurve of comet 6P/d'Arrest from R-band CCD images taken at La Palma 2.52 m NOT telescope is presented. The lightcurve shows noticeable periodic changes in brightness produced by rotational modulation. The periodogram analysis of the lightcurve shows a peak with a confidence level exceeding 99.9% at 3.336 h. Assuming an elongated nucleus, the most likely spin period is therefore 6.67 0.03 h, but other periodicities are also possible. The peak to peak amplitude is 0.082 0.016 mag. This period, and the other peaks detected in the periodogram, are not commensurable with previous estimates of the spin period of comet 6P/d'Arrest. If all the measurements are correct, the differences between this estimate and the previous ones could be due to a possible change in the spin period of comet 6P/d'Arrest or to this comet being rotating in a complex mode.

Key words: comets: individual: 6P/d'Arrest

Offprint request: P. J. Gutiérrez, pedro.gutierrez@oamp.fr

© ESO 2003

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