Hubble Space Telescope Detection of the Nucleus of Comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli–Bernstein)

Abstract

Abstract We present a high-resolution observation of the distant comet C/2014 UN271 (Bernardinelli–Bernstein) using the Hubble Space Telescope on 2022 January 8. The signal of the nucleus was successfully isolated by means of a nucleus extraction technique, with an apparent V-band magnitude measured to be 21.65 ± 0.11, corresponding to an absolute magnitude of 8.63 ± 0.11. The product of the visual geometric albedo with the effective radius squared is p V R n 2 = 157 ± 16 km2. If the ALMA observation by Lellouch et al. refers to a bare nucleus, we derived a visual geometric albedo of 0.033 ± 0.009. If dust contamination of the ALMA signal is present at the maximum allowed level (24%), we found an albedo of 0.044 ± 0.012 for the nucleus having an effective diameter of 119 ± 15 km. In either case, we confirm that C/2014 UN271 is the largest long-period comet ever detected. Judging from the measured surface brightness profile of the coma, whose logarithmic gradient varies azimuthally between ∼1.0 and 1.7 as a consequence of solar radiation pressure, the mass production is consistent with steady-state production but not with impulsive ejection, as would be produced by an outburst. Using aperture photometry, we estimated an enormous (albeit uncertain) mass-loss rate of ∼103 kg s−1 at a heliocentric distance of ∼20 au.