Photometry, spectroscopy, and polarimetry of distant comet C/2014 A4 (SONEAR)

¹ Astronomical Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, 05960 Tatranská Lomnica, Slovak Republic
e-mail: oivanova@ta3.sk
² Main Astronomical Observatory of the National Academy of Sciences, 27 Akademika Zabolotnoho St., 03143 Kyiv, Ukraine
³ Astronomical Observatory, Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, 3 Observatorna St., 04053 Kyiv, Ukraine
⁴ University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA
⁵ Department of Physics, Assam University, Silchar 788011, Assam, India
⁶ Special Astrophysical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, Nizhnii Arkhyz, Karachay-Cherkessia 369167, Russia
⁷ Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Nauchnij, Crimea
⁸ Ural Federal University, 620083 Ekaterinburg, Russia

Received: 17 January 2019
Accepted: 4 April 2019

Abstract

Context. The study of distant comets, which are active at large heliocentric distances, is important for a better understanding of their physical properties and mechanisms of long-lasting activity.

Aims. We analyzed the dust environment of the distant comet C/2014 A4 (SONEAR), with a perihelion distance near 4.1 au, using comprehensive observations obtained by different methods.

Methods. We present an analysis of spectroscopy, photometry, and polarimetry of comet C/2014 A4 (SONEAR), which were performed on November 5–7, 2015, when its heliocentric distance was 4.2 au and phase angle was 4.7°. Long-slit spectra and photometric and linear polarimetric images were obtained using the focal reducer SCORPIO-2 attached to the prime focus of the 6 m telescope BTA (SAO RAS, Russia). We simulated the behavior of color and polarization in the coma presenting the cometary dust as a set of polydisperse polyshapes rough spheroids.

Results. No emission features were detected in the 3800–7200 Å wavelength range. The continuum showed a reddening effect with the normalized gradient of reflectivity 21.6 ± 0.2% per 1000 Å within the 4650–6200 Å wavelength region. The fan-like structure in the sunward hemisphere was detected. The radial profiles of surface brightness differ for r-sdss and g-sdss filters, indicating a predominance of submicron and micron-sized particles in the cometary coma. The dust color (g–r) varies from 0.75 ± 0.05^m to 0.45 ± 0.06^m along the tail. For an aperture radius near 20 000 km, the dust productions in various filters were estimated as Afρ = 680 ± 18 cm (r-sdss) and 887 ± 16 cm (g-sdss). The polarization map shows spatial variations in polarization over the coma from about −3% near the nucleus to −8% at a cometocentric distance of about 150 000 km. Our simulations show that the dust particles are dominated (or covered) by ice and tholin-like organics. Spatial changes in the color and polarization can be explained by particle fragmentation.