On the relationship between visual magnitudes and gas and dust production rates in target comets to space missions

Abstract In this paper, we report the results of a cometary research, developed during the last 10 years by us, involving a criterious analysis of gas and dust production rates in comets directly associated to recent space missions. For the determination of the water release rates we use the framework of the semi-empirical model of observed visual magnitudes [Newburn Jr., R.L. A semi-empirical photometric theory of cometary gas and dust production. Application to P/Halley’s production rates, ESA–SP 174, 3, 1981; de Almeida, A.A., Singh, P.D., Huebner, W.F. Water release rates, active areas, and minimum nuclear radius derived from visual magnitudes of comets – an application to Comet 46P/Wirtanen, Planet. Space Sci. 45, 681–692, 1997; Sanzovo, G.C., de Almeida, A.A., Misra, A. et al. Mass-loss rates, dust particle sizes, nuclear active areas and minimum nuclear radii of target comets for missions STARDUST and CONTOUR, MNRAS 326, 852–868, 2001.], which once obtained, were directly converted into gas production rates. In turn, the dust release rates were obtained using the photometric model for dust particles [Newburn Jr., R.L., Spinrad, H. Spectrophotometry of seventeen comets. II – the continuum, AJ 90, 2591–2608, 1985; de Freitas Pacheco, J.A., Landaberry, S.J.C., Singh, P.D. Spectrophotometric observations of the Comet Halley during the 1985–86 apparition, MNRAS 235, 457–464, 1988; Sanzovo, G.C., Singh, P.D., Huebner, W.F. Dust colors, dust release rates, and dust-to-gas ratios in the comae of six comets, A&AS 120, 301–311, 1996.]. We applied these models to seven target comets, chosen for space missions of “fly-by”/impact and rendezvous/landing.