Tails and Trails: Comets and NEOs Survive Co-addition in Rubin Early Data Preview 2

Colin Orion Chandler; Joseph Murtagh; Ian Chow; Maxine West; A. Fraser Gillan; Peter S. Ferguson; Michael S. P. Kelley; Jacob A. Kurlander; Henry H. Hsieh; Pedro H. Bernardinelli; Wilson Beebe; Jeremy Kubica; Andrew Connolly; James R. A. Davenport

arXiv · 2609.30361

Tails and Trails: Comets and NEOs Survive Co-addition in Rubin Early Data Preview 2

Colin Orion Chandler·Joseph Murtagh·Ian Chow·Maxine West·A. Fraser Gillan·Peter S. Ferguson·Michael S. P. Kelley·Jacob A. Kurlander·Henry H. Hsieh·Pedro H. Bernardinelli·Wilson Beebe·Jeremy Kubica·Andrew Connolly·James R. A. Davenport

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Abstract

We identify effectively single-visit imaging hidden within the deep co-added images of the NSF-DOE Vera C. Rubin Observatory Early Data Preview 2 (EDP2). These shallow regions contain only one or two contributing visits, providing access to single-visit-depth imaging ahead of the full Data Preview 2 (DP2) release in late 2026. We develop a workflow to locate known small Solar System bodies in these data, using our Ponder orchestrator with the Sorcha survey simulator to predict their positions and the Rubin Science Platform (RSP) to identify shallow coadds and extract image cutouts. Because cometary activity and near-Earth-object (NEO) trails produce extended morphologies, both remain identifiable in these shallow coadds. From approximately 700 comet and active-object cutouts, we identify 59 activity detections spanning 32 objects. We discover activity in 2025 NC6, previously unknown to be active; identify the first reported pre-perihelion activity of 2008 QZ44; and independently rediscover known comets 243P/NEAT and 510P/Boattini through their activity. We also recover 336 NEO cutouts, including 29 with predicted trails longer than 25 pixels. We provide accompanying galleries and tabular data, and highlight 99P/Kowal 1, 510P, and 303P/NEAT as targets for immediate follow-up. Shallow coadds are a relatively unexplored facet of Rubin data with applications beyond the Solar System examples presented here: regions with varying numbers of contributing visits will persist throughout the Legacy Survey of Space and Time (LSST).

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Colin Orion Chandler, Joseph Murtagh, Ian Chow, Maxine West, A. Fraser Gillan, Peter S. Ferguson, Michael S. P. Kelley, Jacob A. Kurlander, Henry H. Hsieh, Pedro H. Bernardinelli, Wilson Beebe, Jeremy Kubica, Andrew Connolly, James R. A. Davenport. 2026-09-24. Tails and Trails: Comets and NEOs Survive Co-addition in Rubin Early Data Preview 2. https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.30361

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