Cometary dust trails. I - Survey

Abstract

Cometary dust trails furnish insight into the nature, origin, and evolution of comets, as well as into the relationship of comets to both asteroids and the zodiacal dust complex. A several years-long effort has been made to identify all dust trails detected over the course of IRAS observations, as well as to ascertain the comets' parent bodies. On the basis of a total of eight trails associated with known short-period comets, it is inferred that the trail phenomenon is common to all comets of this type; it is further conjectured that spaceborne IR detectors will observe a different ensemble of trails, as other comets pass perihelion.