2019A&A...626A..26I

Context. The study of distant comets, which are active at large heliocentric distances, is important for a better understanding of their physical properties and mechanisms of long-lasting activity.
Aims. We analyzed the dust environment of the distant comet C/2014 A4 (SONEAR), with a perihelion distance near 4.1au, using comprehensive observations obtained by different methods.
Methods. We present an analysis of spectroscopy, photometry, and polarimetry of comet C/2014 A4 (SONEAR), which were performed on November 5-7, 2015, when its heliocentric distance was 4.2au and phase angle was 4.7°. Long-slit spectra and photometric and linear polarimetric images were obtained using the focal reducer SCORPIO-2 attached to the prime focus of the 6 m telescope BTA (SAO RAS, Russia). We simulated the behavior of color and polarization in the coma presenting the cometary dust as a set of polydisperse polyshapes rough spheroids.
Results. No emission features were detected in the 3800-7200Å wavelength range. The continuum showed a reddening effect with the normalized gradient of reflectivity 21.6±0.2% per 1000 Å within the 4650-6200 Å wavelength region. The fan-like structure in the sunward hemisphere was detected. The radial profiles of surface brightness differ for r-sdss and g-sdss filters, indicating a predominance of submicron and micron-sized particles in the cometary coma. The dust color (g-r) varies from 0.75±0.05^m to 0.45±0.06^m along the tail. For an aperture radius near 20000km, the dust productions in various filters were estimated as Afρ=680±18cm (r-sdss) and 887±16cm (g-sdss). The polarization map shows spatial variations in polarization over the coma from about -3% near the nucleus to -8% at a cometocentric distance of about 150000km. Our simulations show that the dust particles are dominated (or covered) by ice and tholin-like organics. Spatial changes in the color and polarization can be explained by particle fragmentation.