“Insights offered by comet nuclei and the upcoming Comet Interceptor mission”

Synopsis:

The formation and migration history of the Solar System is encoded in remnant planetary disc material, known to us as the diverse populations of minor planets. Of these, comets are some of the most pristine and provide us with regular opportunities to study their properties up close as they approach the Sun on eccentric orbits.

    Comets are most well known for their spectacular displays of activity in which the central, solid nucleus becomes shrouded by a coma of dust and gas. However, during periods of inactivity we can directly probe the surface properties of their nuclei.

   In this talk, I will describe the insights offered by observations of short-period comet nuclei, including how we use rotational lightcurves to extract information about their physical and surface properties, and what these tell us about their evolutionary path through the Solar System.

    I will also outline the upcoming Comet Interceptor mission, a fast-class collaboration between ESA and JAXA with significant contributions from UK scientists. Expected to launch in 2029, the mission aims to perform the first ever flyby of a comet making its first approach to the inner Solar System, providing us with an up-close look at some of the least thermally processed material in the Solar System.

BIO:

Dr Abbie Donaldson is a research associate at the University of Edinburgh working with Professor Colin Snodgrass as Science Support Officer for Comet Interceptor. She completed her PhD in 2024, during which she studied Jupiter-family comets using ground-based observing facilities.