Long-term activity of Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin) as monitored by the SLT at the Lulin Observatory

Abstract

Abstract The green comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin) is a new Oort cloud comet that has a retrograde orbit (inclination of $178^{\circ }$). It reached its perihelion on 2009 January 10, and its closest distance to Earth was 0.411 astronomical units (au) on February 24. Soon after its discovery on 2007 July 11, the coma activity of Comet Lulin was monitored closely by an Super Light Telescope 41 cm telescope until 2009 April. After long-term monitoring of Comet Lulin, the dust production rate [A(θ)fρ] was estimated. An unexpected increase in the ${A(0)f\rho}$ near the perigee appears to indicate an opposition effect. By investigating the surface brightness profiles, dust-to-gas ratios, and magnitudes, we ruled out the influences of gas and ion contamination and the outburst phenomenon. We discovered the anti-tail in late December 2008 but were unsure of the composition. We found that this abnormal tail lasted for a considerable time because of the effect of the orbital geometry. We also found that the jet activity coincided with the peak ${A(\theta)f\rho}$ values, and this clue helped us realize what was happening in the dust coma of Comet Lulin.