A Large Outburst, Coma Asymmetries, and the Color of Comet 243P/NEAT

Abstract Water ice is a fundamental building material of comets and other bodies in the outer solar system. Yet the properties of cometary water ice are challenging to study, due to its volatility and the typical distances at which comets are observed. Cometary outbursts, impulsive mass-loss events that can liberate large amounts of material, offer opportunities to directly observe and characterize cometary water ice. We present a study of comet 243P/NEAT, instigated by a −3 mag outburst that occurred in 2018 December. Optical images and a 251-day light curve were examined to characterize the outburst and the comet’s quiescent activity. Variations in the quiescent light curve appear to be dominated by coma asymmetries, rather than changing activity levels as the comet approached and receded from the Sun. Furthermore, the light curve shows evidence for one to two additional small outbursts (–0.3 mag) occurring in 2018 September. The large 2018 December outburst likely ejected water-ice grains, yet no signatures of ice were found in color photometry, a color map, or a near-infrared spectrum. We discuss possible dynamical and thermal reasons for this nondetection. In this context, we examined the comae of comets 103P/Hartley 2 and C/2013 US 10 (Catalina), and we show that a one-to-one mapping between continuum color and the presence of water ice cannot be supported. We also discuss possible causes for the large outburst, and we find that there is an apparent grouping in the kinetic energy per mass estimates for the outbursts of five comets.