Do comets rotate?

[wurf]

Do comets and asteroids rotate? It seems like whenever I see an animated artist's rendering of either, they're shown just moving forward with no spin on them.

 

[vogon13]

Yes they rotate.<br /><br />Rotational effects have been observed and decribed in the coma and tails of many observed comets.<br /><br /><br /><br />A challenge in redirecting a probe to image the Deep Impact comet crater is that the rotation period is not precisely known, and the crater might be on the dark side during a future flyby.<br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Most definately.<br />Rotation periods vary widely, and all objects rotate to some extent.<br />There's a great image of the nucleus of Hale Bopp that shows the "fire hose effect" of the active area spewing dust on east revolution. I'll see if I can find it.<br /><br />Rotation speeds of defferent objects vary widely, up the the point where the rotation exceeds the strength of the material of the object, at which time it splits apart.<br /><br />MeteorWayne <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[billslugg]

I have read speculation that the origin of the swastika was a comet. Picture a comet with four active streamers 90 degrees apart on the periphery of a nucleus with spin axis pointed at the observer. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[3488]

The Nucleus of Comet Tempel 1 rotates about once every 41 Hours, although the precise<br />value as vogon13 says is not yet known.<br /><br />Hope that helps.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

comet rotation link <br /><br /> asteroid rotation link <br /><br />I'm looking for more recent data, but these give you a flavor of the general charachteristics. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[3488]

Thanks MeteorWayne,<br /><br />Great links. <br /><br />I was aware of asteroids 288 Glauke, 1220 Crocus & 253 Mathilde being the slowest known rotating asteroids.<br /><br />There is speculation that Asteroid 288 Glauke may be a very close binary asteroid, orbiting<br />around their centre of gravity, rather than a single larger slow rotating asteorid. <br /><br />IMO it IS a single slow rotating asteroid.<br /><br />With 253 Mathilde it was hoped that the NEAR / Shoemaker spacecraft would help solve<br />the very long rotation period.<br /><br />Below a close up of asteroid 253 Mathilde.<br /><br />NASA/JHU.<br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[3488]

Post deleted by 3488 <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[3488]

Comet Tempel 1. <br /><br />Imaged by Deep Impact. <br /><br />Rotates once about every 41 hours (exact period as yet uncertain) in a retrograde direction <br />(sun rises in the west, sets in the east), <br />also rotates on its side like the planet Uranus & Asteroid 433 Eros. <br /><br />At the time of Deep Impact's encounter, comet Tempel 1 was close to a 'solstice', <br />i.e a pole was more or less facing directly at the Sun, the other facing away. <br /><br />So not only do comets & asteroids rotate, they also have seasons. <br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[3488]

Post deleted by 3488 <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>

 

[3488]

Shape models for the nucleus of Comet Tempel 1. <br /><br />NASA/JHU. <br /><br />Andrew Brown. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>