A Survey of Comets using TESS

We are using the TESS full frame images to perform a survey of comets that serendipitously pass through the spacecraft's field of view.  By monitoring the comets' short- and long-term temporal behavior, we can track secular changes in activity, measure the nucleus spin state and any changes in that state over time, map and analyze variability in the coma morphology, and search for spontaneous outbursts.  TESS' instrumental stability, sampling cadence and long-duration observation baseline produce a dataset of unprecedented quality for this study, which has the potential to constrain the characteristics of more than 100 comets in various families.  The data are especially useful for identifying rotation periods longer than 24 hours, which are under-sampled in ground-based observations, and for capturing the onset and early stages of outbursts, which have previously only been recorded on two occasions.  By aligning and co-adding numerous images, we can also search for dust trails that will constrain the comets' dust properties and total mass loss rates.  For specific high-profile comets, including potential spacecraft targets, we perform more detailed analyses to better characterize the activity for planning any future missions.