Issue |
A&A
Volume 407, Number 2, August IV 2003
|
|
---|---|---|
Page(s) | L37 - L40 | |
Section | Letters | |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1051/0004-6361:20031066 | |
Published online | 17 November 2003 |
Letter to the Editor
New spin period determination for comet 6P/d'Arrest
1
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
Corresponding author: P. J. Gutiérrez, pedro.gutierrez@oamp.fr
Received:
22
May
2003
Accepted:
3
July
2003
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
© ESO, 2003
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