The secular variation of cometary magnitude

This paper calculates the mean variation in absolute magnitude per perihelion passage, ΔH₁₀, for short-period comets from the data of Vsekhsvyatskii and finds a value of 0.30 ± 0.06. Other mechanisms used for estimating cometary decay are reviewed and it is concluded that a more probable value for ΔH₁₀ is about 0.002. Reasons for the discrepancy between these two values are given.