Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) as seen with the Herschel Space Observatory

Abstract

The thermal emission of comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) was observed on March 31, 2013, at a heliocentric distance of 6.48 au using the PACS photometer camera of the Herschel Space Observatory. The comet was clearly active, showing a coma that could be traced to a distance of ~10'', i.e. ~50 000 km. Analysis of the radial intensity profiles of the coma provided a dust mass and dust production rate and the derived grain size distribution characteristics indicate an overabundance of large grains in the thermal emission. We estimate that activity started about 6 months before these observations at a heliocentric distance of ~8 au.

Herschel is an ESA space observatory with science instruments provided by European-lead Principal Investigator consortia and with important participation from NASA.Appendix A is available in electronic form at http://www.aanda.org