Rapid variations of dust colour in comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák

Abstract

We monitor the inner coma of comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák searching for variations of its colour. Fast changes in colour of the comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák provide important clues for better understanding of the microphysical properties of its dust. Using the 61-cm and 70-cm telescopes we measured the apparent magnitude of the comet with the V and R Johnson-Cousins filters from January 29 until April 25 of 2017. The inner coma ({\sim} 2000 km) reveals fast and significant variations of colour. The most significant change was found between March 3 and 4 of 2017, when it changed from blue with a colour slope S {\approx}(-10.15 {\pm} 3.43){\%} per 0.1 μm to red with S {\approx} (16.48 {\pm} 4.27){\%} per 0.1 μm. This finding appears in good accordance with what was previously reported by Ivanova et al. (2017) for long-period comet C/2013 UQ4 (Catalina), suggesting that fast and significant variations of colour of dust could be a common feature of short- and long-period comets. We model observations of comet 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák using the agglomerated debris particles and conclude that its inner coma consists of a mixture of at least two types of particles made of Mg-rich silicates and organics or Mg-Fe silicates.