The Volatile Composition and Activity Evolution of Main-belt Comet 358P/PANSTARRS

Abstract We report the detection of water vapor associated with main-belt comet 358P/PANSTARRS on UT 2024 January 8–9 using the NIRSPEC instrument on board JWST. We derive a water production rate of Q H 2 O = ( 5.0 ± 0.2 ) × 10 25 molecules s −1 , marking only the second direct detection of sublimation products of any kind from a main-belt comet, after 238P/Read. Similar to 238P, we find a remarkable absence of hypervolatile species, finding Q CO 2 7.6 × 10 22 molecules s −1 , corresponding to Q CO 2 / Q H 2 O 0.2 %. Upper limits on CH 3 OH and CO emission are also estimated. Photometry from ground-based observations shows that the dust coma brightened and faded slowly over ∼250 days in 2023–2024, consistent with photometric behavior observed in 2012–2013, but also indicates a ∼2.5× decline in the dust production rate between these two periods. Dynamical dust modeling shows that the coma’s morphology as imaged by JWST's NIRCam instrument on 2023 November 22 can be reproduced by asymmetric dust emission from a nucleus with a midrange obliquity ( ε ∼ 80°) with a steady-state mass-loss rate of ∼0.8 kg s −1 . Finally, we find similar Af ρ -to-gas ratios of log 10 ( Af ρ / Q H 2 O ) = − 24.8 ± 0.2 for 358P and log 10 ( Af ρ / Q H 2 O ) = − 24.4 ± 0.2 <