Dynamics of cometary fragments. The case of comet 46P/Wirtanen Original Research Article

Based on a dynamical model for the evolution of icy cometary fragments developed for comet C/1996 B2 Hyakutake, we investigate the sensitivity to the initial conditions of trajectories of hypothetic fragments close to the nucleus of comet 46P/Wirtanen. We performed Monte-Carlo simulations in order to test the dependence of the trajectories on initial position, on the orientation and the absolute value of the velocity vector. Due to the differential effect of the non-gravitational forces, a strong assymetry is found between the day side and the night side hemisphere. The possible ejection of fragments due to the rotation of the nucleus is discussed.