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The adopted nuclear magnitudes and radii

There were 246 periodic comets disocevered by January 2003. Among them we present in the previous Section the plots for 220 comets. From the analysis of these plots we are able to assign nuclear magnitudes to 112 periodic comets, out of which 18 belong to QC 1, 17 to QC 2, 41 to QC 3, and 36 to QC 4. We discarded 108 periodic comets, for which we were not able to adopt or even approach a reasonable estimate of a nuclear magnitude, either because there are very few data (in many cases a single nuclear magnitude), or because a major coma contamination in the reported magnitudes is strongly suspected.

The 26 periodic comets for which we have no data are shown in Table 3.
 
 

Table 3: The 26 periodic comets without data of nuclear magnitudes
 003D/Biela  005D/Brorsen  020D/Westphal  023P/Brorsen-Metcalf
 025D/Neujmin-2  034D/Gale  035P/Herschel-Rigollet  066P/Du-Toit
 095P/Chiron  126P/IRAS  133P/Elst-Pizarro  D/1766G1(Helfenzrieder)
 D/1770L1(Lexell)  D/1783W1(Pigott)  D/1819W1(Blanpain)  D/1884O1(Barnard)
 D/1886K1(Brooks)  D/1892T1(Barnard)  D/1894F1(Denning)  D/1895Q1(Swift)
 D/1918W1(Schorr)  P/1896R2(Giacobini)  P/1990V1(Shoemaker-Levy)  P/1991V1(Shoemaker-Levy)
 P/1998Y2(Li)  P/2003A1(LINEAR)
 

The 108 periodic comets for which we have plots but we are not able to make a reasonable estimate of the nuclear magnitude are shown in Table 4.
 
 

Table 4: The 108 periodic comets with data but without an adopted absolute nuclear magnitude
 008P/Tuttle  011P/Tempel-Swift-LINEAR  012P/Pons-Brooks  013P/Olbers
 018D/Perrine-Mrkos  027P/Crommelin  038P/Stephan-Oterma  054P/De-Vico-Swift
 057P/Du-Toit-Neujmin-Delporte  062P/Tsuchinshan-1  072P/Denning-Fujikawa  076P/West-Kohoutek-Ikemura
 080P/Peters-Hartley  083P/Russell-1  085P/Boethin  093P/Lovas-1
 100P/Hartley-1  102P/Shoemaker-1  103P/Hartley-2  107P/Wilson-Harrington
 127P/Holt-Olmstead  132P/Helin-Roman-Alu-2  136P/Mueller-3  138P/Shoemaker-Levy-7
 139P/Vaisala-Oterma  140P/Bowell-Skiff  141P/Machholz-2  142P/Ge-Wang
 145P/Shoemaker-Levy-5  146P/Shoemaker-LINEAR  147P/Kushida-Muramatsu  148P/Anderson-LINEAR
 149P/Mueller-4  150P/LONEOS  151P/Helin  153P/Ikeya-Zhang
 155P/Shoemaker  D/1952B1(Harrington-Wilson)  D/1960S1(Van-Houten)  D/1977C1(Skiff-Kosai)
 D/1978C2(Tritton)  D/1978R1(Haneda-Campos)  D/1993F2(Shoemaker-Levy)  P/1986W1(Lovas)
 P/1993W1(Mueller)  P/1994J3(Shoemaker)  P/1994N2(McNaught-Hartley)  P/1994X1(McNaught-Russell)
 P/1996R2(Lagerkvist)  P/1997B1(Kobayashi)  P/1997T3(Lagerkvist-Carsenty)  P/1997V1(Larsen)
 P/1998QP54(LONEOS-Tucker)  P/1998S1(LINEAR-Mueller)  P/1998U2(Mueller)  P/1998U3(Jager)
 P/1998U4(Spahr)  P/1998VS24(LINEAR)  P/1998W1(Spahr)  P/1998W2(Hergenrother)
 P/1998X1(ODAS)  P/1999D1(Hermann)  P/1999DN3(Korlevic-Juric)  P/1999J5(LINEAR)
 P/1999RO28(LONEOS)  P/1999U3(LINEAR)  P/1999V1(Catalina)  P/1999WJ7(Korlevic)
 P/1999X1(Hug-Bell)  P/1999XB69(LINEAR)  P/1999XN120(Catalina)  P/2000B3(LINEAR)
 P/2000C1(Hergenrother)  P/2000G1(LINEAR)  P/2000R2(LINEAR)  P/2000S1(Skiff)
 P/2000S4(LINEAR-Spacewatch)  P/2000U6(Tichy)  P/2000Y3(Scotti)  P/2001BB50(LINEAR-NEAT)
 P/2001CV8(LINEAR)  P/2001F1(NEAT)  P/2001H5(NEAT)  P/2001J1(NEAT)
 P/2001K1(NEAT)  P/2001MD7(LINEAR)  P/2001Q2(Petriew)  P/2001Q5(LINEAR-NEAT)
 P/2001Q6(NEAT)  P/2001R1(LONEOS)  P/2001R6(LINEAR-Skiff)  P/2001T3(NEAT)
 P/2001TU80(LINEAR-NEAT)  P/2001WF2(LONEOS)  P/2001X2(Scotti)  P/2001YX127(LINEAR)
 P/2002AR2(LINEAR)  P/2002CW134(LINEAR)  P/2002EJ57(LINEAR)  P/2002JN16(LINEAR)
 P/2002O5(NEAT)  P/2002O8(NEAT)  P/2002Q1(Van-Ness)  P/2002S1(Skiff)
 P/2002T1(LINEAR)  P/2002T5(LINEAR)  P/2002T6(NEAT-LINEAR)  P/2002X2(NEAT)
 

Table 5 contains the list of our 112 periodic comets with assigned nuclear magnitudes.
The table presents the following columns:

  1. Name of the comet
  2. Perihelion distance (q)
  3. Largest heliocentric distance at which a nuclear magnitude was observed (rmax)
  4. Adopted absolute nuclear magnitude (HN). Here you find an explanation of the procedure to adopt the values.
  5. Quality Class (QC) as defined above
  6. Effective nuclear radius (R) assuming a geometric albedo pv = 0.04.
 
 
Table 5: Absolute nuclear magnitudes and radii
Comet q (AU) rmax (AU) HN QC R (km)
 001P/Halley  0.587  18.80  14.3  1  4.6
 002P/Encke  0.338  4.09  16.0  3  2.1
 004P/Faye  1.657  4.41  16.3  1  1.8
 006P/D-Arrest  1.353  5.60  16.5  1  1.7
 007P/Pons-Winnecke  1.258  5.59  16.3  3  1.8
 009P/Tempel-1  1.500  4.69  15.6  1  2.5
 010P/Tempel-2  1.482  4.74  14.9  2  3.5
 014P/Wolf  2.413  4.17  16.2  4  1.9
 015P/Finlay  1.034  3.65  17.2  4  1.2
 016P/Brooks-2  1.835  2.66  16.6  4  1.6
 017P/Holmes  2.165  3.74  16.6  1  1.6
 019P/Borrelly  1.358  5.85  15.9  1  2.2
 021P/Giacobini-Zinner  1.034  4.83  17.6  3  1.0
 022P/Kopff  1.584  5.12  16.3  1  1.8
 024P/Schaumasse  1.205  2.75  17.8  4  0.9
 026P/Grigg-Skjellerup  0.997  4.93  17.2  1  1.2
 028P/Neujmin-1  1.552  12.28  12.7  1  9.6
 029P/Schwassmann-Wachmann-1  5.724  7.26  12.0  2  13.2
 030P/Reinmuth-1  1.878  3.78  17.6  3  1.0
 031P/Schwassmann-Wachmann-2  3.409  4.58  15.2  2  3.0
 032P/Comas-Sola  1.846  3.87  15.6  3  2.5
 033P/Daniel  2.157  3.06  17.8  4  0.9
 036P/Whipple  3.088  5.26  16.0  1  2.1
 037P/Forbes  1.446  3.59  17.6  2  1.0
 039P/Oterma  5.471  5.75  15.1  4  3.2
 040P/Vaisala-1  1.783  6.01  16.5  3  1.7
 041P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak  1.052  2.32  18.4  4  0.7
 042P/Neujmin-3  2.001  2.52  18.4  4  0.7
 043P/Wolf-Harrington  1.582  4.87  16.0  2  2.1
 044P/Reinmuth-2  1.890  5.04  16.7  3  1.5
 045P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova  0.528  5.14  20.0  3  0.3
 046P/Wirtanen  1.059  4.98  18.8  1  0.6
 047P/Ashbrook-Jackson  2.305  5.33  15.5  1  2.6
 048P/Johnson  2.308  3.98  15.9  2  2.2
 049P/Arend-Rigaux  1.369  4.79  14.8  1  3.6
 050P/Arend  1.917  2.96  17.7  4  1.0
 051P/Harrington  1.568  2.73  20.8  4  0.2
 052P/Harrington-Abell  1.756  3.02  17.4  4  1.1
 053P/Van-Biesbroeck  2.415  8.30  15.0  1  3.3
 055P/Tempel-Tuttle  0.977  6.74  16.5  1  1.7
 056P/Slaughter-Burnham  2.543  7.43  16.8  1  1.5
 058P/Jackson-Neujmin  1.381  2.06  18.7  4  0.6
 059P/Kearns-Kwee  2.339  4.14  17.6  3  1.0
 060P/Tsuchinshan-2  1.770  2.31  18.4  4  0.7
 061P/Shajn-Schaldach  2.330  4.39  18.0  2  0.8
 063P/Wild-1  1.961  3.43  16.8  2  1.5
 064P/Swift-Gehrels  1.339  3.63  16.3  4  1.8
 065P/Gunn  2.446  4.73  14.3  2  4.6
 067P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko  1.292  4.98  16.0  1  2.1
 068P/Klemola  1.755  3.87  15.6  3  2.5
 069P/Taylor  1.948  4.89  16.0  4  2.1
 070P/Kojima  2.003  3.77  17.1  3  1.3
 071P/Clark  1.559  4.67  18.0  2  0.8
 073P/Schwassmann-Wachmann-3  0.937  4.05  17.7  3  1.0
 074P/Smirnova-Chernykh  3.546  4.78  15.1  3  3.2
 075P/Kohoutek  1.775  3.82  16.3  3  1.8
 077P/Longmore  2.310  4.87  15.8  4  2.3
 078P/Gehrels-2  2.000  5.45  16.4  3  1.7
 079P/Du-Toit-Hartley  1.199  4.74  17.2  4  1.2
 081P/Wild-2  1.590  4.97  16.2  2  1.9
 082P/Gehrels-3  3.627  4.08  18.1  3  0.8
 084P/Giclas  1.846  2.21  17.5  3  1.1
 086P/Wild-3  2.310  4.96  19.0  2  0.5
 087P/Bus  2.181  4.78  19.0  4  0.5
 088P/Howell  1.406  3.67  17.7  4  1.0
 089P/Russell-2  2.290  3.07  17.3  4  1.2
 090P/Gehrels-1  2.966  3.65  15.5  3  2.6
 091P/Russell-3  2.510  3.73  17.1  4  1.3
 092P/Sanguin  1.807  8.56  17.2  2  1.2
 094P/Russell-4  2.231  4.57  16.1  3  2.0
 096P/Machholz-1  0.124  5.85  14.7  4  3.8
 097P/Metcalf-Brewington  2.611  4.78  16.8  4  1.5
 098P/Takamizawa  1.585  3.78  15.3  4  2.9
 099P/Kowal-1  4.673  6.12  14.2  3  4.8
 101P/Chernykh  2.356  4.17  15.9  3  2.2
 104P/Kowal-2  1.397  3.94  16.8  4  1.5
 105P/Singer-Brewster  2.032  3.02  18.0  4  0.8
 106P/Schuster  1.550  2.19  18.0  3  0.8
 108P/Ciffreo  1.713  2.94  18.0  3  0.8
 109P/Swift-Tuttle  0.958  14.56  12.1  1  12.6
 110P/Hartley-3  2.478  4.64  16.1  2  2.0
 111P/Helin-Roman-Crockett  3.473  4.56  17.3  4  1.2
 112P/Urata-Niijima  1.458  2.87  18.2  3  0.8
 113P/Spitaler  2.127  4.12  17.3  3  1.2
 114P/Wiseman-Skiff  1.569  2.40  17.9  3  0.9
 115P/Maury  2.042  6.37  17.4  3  1.1
 116P/Wild-4  2.170  4.78  15.0  4  3.3
 117P/Helin-Roman-Alu-1  3.715  5.21  14.8  3  3.6
 118P/Shoemaker-Levy-4  2.011  4.71  16.2  3  1.9
 119P/Parker-Hartley  3.045  5.10  16.3  3  2.6
 120P/Mueller-1  2.739  3.15  18.0  4  0.8
 121P/Shoemaker-Holt-2  2.664  5.03  16.1  4  2.0
 122P/De-Vico  0.659  3.84  17.0  4  1.3
 123P/West-Hartley  2.129  5.48  16.1  3  2.0
 124P/Mrkos  1.467  4.94  16.4  2  1.7
 125P/Spacewatch  1.529  3.03  18.0  3  0.8
 128P/Shoemaker-Holt-1  3.047  4.99  16.1  3  2.0
 129P/Shoemaker-Levy-3  2.807  4.50  16.5  4  1.7
 130P/McNaught-Hughes  2.116  4.00  16.6  3  1.6
 131P/Mueller-2  2.412  3.51  18.1  4  0.8
 134P/Kowal-Vavrova  2.575  5.05  16.8  3  1.5
 135P/Shoemaker-Levy-8  2.721  4.14  16.9  3  1.4
 137P/Shoemaker-Levy-2  1.869  6.06  15.4  2  2.8
 143P/Kowal-Mrkos  2.547  3.96  14.3  3  4.6
 144P/Kushida  1.431  2.55  17.3  3  1.2
 152P/Helin-Lawrence  3.110  5.84  16.0  3  2.1
 154P/Brewington  1.590  3.26  16.5  4  1.7
 P/1995A1(Jedicke)  4.083  5.53  15.2  3  3.0
 P/1996A1(Jedicke)  4.055  6.52  14.1  2  5.0
 P/1997C1(Gehrels)  3.565  5.45  15.6  3  2.5
 P/1997G1(Montani)  4.214  5.72  15.5  4  2.6
 P/2002BV(Yeung)  2.244  4.78  15.0  4  3.3
 


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Gonzalo Tancredi

2005-11-01