Spectropolarimetric Signals of Comet 2P/Encke During Its 2017 Apparition

Comets are one of the most primordial solar system objects that hold the information of the early days of solar system formation inside their nuclei. Orbiting the Sun, they spew such ancient materials that have been buried for many years, creating dust and gas comae. Cometary dust grains absorb and scatter sunlight radiating the continuous light, while gas molecules form the line emissions. Eachof the comets has its own light patterns, which depends on the physical and chemical properties of the dust and gas components. In this regard, spectropolarimetrycan be a powerful tool to study the properties of cometary constituents free from contamination of each other. This methodology offers a series of information on the polarization degrees of the dust and gas components as well as on wavelength dependence of the polarization degree and polarization angle of cometary dust simultaneously. Herein, we will report the results of the spectropolarimetric study of comet 2P/Encke, which is one of the well-known objects for its shortest orbital period and its prominent aging signals. We performed a spectropolarimetric observation of comet 2P/Encke in its inbound orbit using the Higashi-Hiroshima Optical and Near-Infrared Camera (HONIR) at the Higashi-Hiroshima Observatory, Japan, on UT 2017 February 21 at high phase angle of =75.7 deg. Ourstudy of this interesting comet is the first and only one done through spectropolarimetry in a referred publication. We will discuss the most recent polarimetric results of our study in terms of 2P/Encke' scurrent evolutionary status.