Dust Production of Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner Using Broadband Photometry

Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner is a Jupiter family comet, approximately 2 km in diameter, and is established to be the parent of the Draconids, a meteor shower known to outburst. In 1933 and 1946 up to 10,000 meteors per hour were reported for the Draconids, and 2011 saw a minor Draconid outburst. Meteor stream modeling/forecasting being a primary focus for the NASA Meteoroid Environment Office, it was decided to monitor 21P for three purposes: firstly to find the apparent and absolute magnitude with respect to heliocentric distance; second to calculate Af , a quantity that describes the dust production rate and is used in models to predict the activity of the Draconids; and thirdly to detect possible increases in cometary activity, which could correspond to future Draconid meteor outbursts. A similar study was done for 21P during its 2004-2006 close approach to the Sun in which apparent and absolute magnitudes were found with various heliocentric distances, as well as the dust production. At 2.32 AU from the Sun, 21P possessed an apparent magnitude of 17.05 and Af of 83 cm, and an apparent magnitude of 15.91 and Af of 130.66 cm at 1.76 AU from the sun.