Research of activity of Main Belt Comets 176P/LINEAR, 238P/Read and 288P/(300163) 2006 VW(139)

As a new class of comet, main belt comets (MBCs) have attracted more and more attention in recent years. To study activity and physical properties of three MBCs 176P/LINEAR, 238P/Read and 288P/(300163) 2006 VW(139), we carried out broadband CCD photometry of three MBCs on UT 2016 November 18–19 with the 1-m optical telescope at Lulin Observatory in Taiwan. By comparing cometary surface brightness profiles to stellar surface brightness profiles, and by comparing cometary absolute magnitude to the expected magnitude of inactive nucleus, we found that 176P/LINEAR was inactive, while 238P/Read and 288P/(300163) 2006 VW(139) were active. By photometric studies, we obtained the Afρ values and the dust production rates. Finally, the activity of three MBCs were discussed. Our photometric results show that the total dust mass of 238P/Read and 288P/(300163) 2006 VW(139) obtained in this work are of the same magnitude as the majority of known MBCs.