PREDNASAJUCI / LECTURER :

Anhelina Voitko

(1) Astronomical Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences,
059 60 Tatranská Lomnica

NAZOV / TITLE :

Dust coma of comet C/2020 V2 (ZTF) in the first half of 2022

ABSTRAKT / ABSTRACT :

Research on dynamically new comets, which pass through the inner regions
of the Solar System for the first time, is crucial for understanding the
evolution of the entire cometary population. We present the results of
the study of comet C/2020 V2 (ZTF), which were performed using monitoring
observations taken in February-March of 2022 and quasi-simultaneous
photometric, polarimetric, and spectroscopic data obtained on June 2, 2022.
The spectrum did not reveal gaseous emissions above the continuum, allowing
us to use our observations to study the dust component of the coma. The
comet C/2020 V2 (ZTF) was steadily highly active, with the dust productivity
level comparable to the largest values reported in the literature for other
long-period comets. The search for morphological features within the coma
showed the presence of a circumpolar ejection. We suggest that this feature
contains dust particles with the same physical and chemical characteristics
as those in the rest of the coma, as it was not visible in either polarimetry
or color maps. The light scattering model was applied to reproduce the dust
properties. It suggests a high abundance of highly porous aggregates of
submicron-sized grains consisting of mainly silicates, organic matter, and
water ice.