108 research outputs found
Monitoring Observations of the Jupiter-Family Comet 17P/Holmes during 2014 Perihelion Passage
We performed a monitoring observation of a Jupiter-Family comet, 17P/Holmes,
during its 2014 perihelion passage to investigate its secular change in
activity. The comet has drawn the attention of astronomers since its historic
outburst in 2007, and this occasion was its first perihelion passage since
then. We analyzed the obtained data using aperture photometry package and
derived the Afrho parameter, a proxy for the dust production rate. We found
that Afrho showed asymmetric properties with respect to the perihelion passage:
it increased moderately from 100 cm at the heliocentric distance r_h=2.6-3.1 AU
to a maximal value of 185 cm at r_h = 2.2 AU (near the perihelion) during the
inbound orbit, while dropping rapidly to 35 cm at r_h = 3.2 AU during the
outbound orbit. We applied a model for characterizing dust production rates as
a function of r_h and found that the fractional active area of the cometary
nucleus had dropped from 20%-40% in 2008-2011 (around the aphelion) to
0.1%-0.3% in 2014-2015 (around the perihelion). This result suggests that a
dust mantle would have developed rapidly in only one orbital revolution around
the sun. Although a minor eruption was observed on UT 2015 January 26 at r_h =
3.0 AU, the areas excavated by the 2007 outburst would be covered with a layer
of dust (<~ 10 cm depth) which would be enough to insulate the subsurface ice
and to keep the nucleus in a state of low activity.Comment: 25 pages, 6 figures, 2 tables, ApJ accepted on December 29, 201
Optical and Near-Infrared Photometry of Nova V2362 Cyg : Rebrightening Event and Dust Formation
We present optical and near-infrared (NIR) photometry of a classical nova,
V2362 Cyg (= Nova Cygni 2006). V2362 Cyg experienced a peculiar rebrightening
with a long duration from 100 to 240 d after the maximum of the nova. Our
multicolor observation indicates an emergence of a pseudophotosphere with an
effective temperature of 9000 K at the rebrightening maximum. After the
rebrightening maximum, the object showed a slow fading homogeneously in all of
the used bands for one week. This implies that the fading just after the
rebrightening maximum ( less or equal 1 week ) was caused by a slowly shrinking
pseudophotosphere. Then, the NIR flux drastically increased, while the optical
flux steeply declined. The optical and NIR flux was consistent with blackbody
radiation with a temperature of 1500 K during this NIR rising phase. These
facts are likely to be explained by dust formation in the nova ejecta. Assuming
an optically thin case, we estimate the dust mass of 10^(-8) -- 10^(-10)
M_solar, which is less than those in typical dust-forming novae. These results
support the senario that a second, long-lasting outflow, which caused the
rebrightening, interacted with a fraction of the initial outflow and formed
dust grains.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, 2010, PASJ, 62, 1103--1108, in pres
Dust from Comet 209P/LINEAR during its 2014 Return: Parent Body of a New Meteor Shower, the May Camelopardalids
We report a new observation of the Jupiter-family comet 209P/LINEAR during
its 2014 return. The comet is recognized as a dust source of a new meteor
shower, the May Camelopardalids. 209P/LINEAR was apparently inactive at a
heliocentric distance rh = 1.6 au and showed weak activity at rh < 1.4 au. We
found an active region of <0.001% of the entire nuclear surface during the
comet's dormant phase. An edge-on image suggests that particles up to 1 cm in
size (with an uncertainty of factor 3-5) were ejected following a differential
power-law size distribution with index q=-3.25+-0.10. We derived a mass loss
rate of 2-10 kg/s during the active phase and a total mass of ~5x10^7 kg during
the 2014 return. The ejection terminal velocity of millimeter- to
centimeter-sized particles was 1-4 m/s, which is comparable to the escape
velocity from the nucleus (1.4 m/s). These results imply that such large
meteoric particles marginally escaped from the highly dormant comet nucleus via
the gas drag force only within a few months of the perihelion passage.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figures, accepted on 2014 December 11 for publication in
the Astrophysical Journal Letter
Multiband Optical Observation of The P/2010 A2 Dust Tail
An inner main-belt asteroid, P/2010 A2, was discovered on 2010 January 6. Based on its orbital elements, it is considered that the asteroid belongs to the Flora collisional family, where S-type asteroids are common, while showing a comet-like dust tail. Although analysis of images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope and Rosetta spacecraft suggested that the dust tail resulted from a recent head-on collision between asteroids, an alternative idea of ice sublimation was suggested based on the morphological fitting of ground-based images. Here, we report a multiband observation of P/2010 A2 made on 2010 January with a 105 cm telescope at the Ishigakijima Astronomical Observatory. Three broadband filters, g', R-c, and I-c, were employed for the observation. The unique multiband data reveal that the reflectance spectrum of the P/2010 A2 dust tail resembles that of an Sq-type asteroid or that of ordinary chondrites rather than that of an S-type asteroid. Due to the large error of the measurement, the reflectance spectrum also resembles the spectra of C-type asteroids, even though C-type asteroids are uncommon in the Flora family. The reflectances relative to the g' band (470 nm) are 1.096 +/- 0.046 at the R-c band (650 nm) and 1.131 +/- 0.061 at the I-c band (800 nm). We hypothesize that the parent body of P/2010 A2 was originally S-type but was then shattered upon collision into scattering fresh chondritic particles from the interior, thus forming the dust tail
Early gastric cancer detection in high-risk patients: a multicentre randomised controlled trial on the effect of second-generation narrow band imaging
Objective: Early detection of gastric cancer has been the topic of major efforts in high prevalence areas. Whether advanced imaging methods, such as second-generation narrow band imaging (2G-NBI) can improve early detection, is unknown. Design: This open-label, randomised, controlled tandem trial was conducted in 13 hospitals. Patients at increased risk for gastric cancer were randomly assigned to primary white light imaging (WLI) followed by secondary 2G-NBI (WLI group: n=2258) and primary 2G-NBI followed by secondary WLI (2G-NBI group: n=2265) performed by the same examiner. Suspected early gastric cancer (EGC) lesions in both groups were biopsied. Primary endpoint was the rate of EGC patients in the primary examination. The main secondary endpoint was the positive predictive value (PPV) for EGC in suspicious lesions detected (primary examination). Results: The overall sensitivity of primary endoscopy for the detection of EGC in high-risk patients was only 75% and should be improved. 2G-NBI did not increase EGC detection rate over conventional WLI. The impact of a slightly better PPV of 2G-NBI has to be evaluated further. Trial registration number: UMIN000014503
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