Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-n9wrp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-17T02:01:16.588Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Ultraviolet Spectroscopy of Cometary Comae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 April 2016

Paul D. Feldman
Paul D. Feldman*
Affiliation:
Center for Astrophysical Sciences Department of Physics and Astronomy, The Johns Hopkins University Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

During the past decade, vacuum ultraviolet spectra of over 30 comets have been obtained with the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite observatory. With few exceptions, the spectra of these comets appear to be similar, with OH and H produced by the photodissociation of water being the dominant species and emissions of C, O, S, CS and CO+2 usually present. Although signs of variability of many kinds in comet spectra appear, the evidence from the ultraviolet observations suggests that all comets have the same basic chemical composition and that observed differences are due to evolution and ageing processes. The principal exception is S2, which was detected by IUE in comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock (1983 VII), but not in any other comet to date. During the 1985–86 apparition of comet Halley, ultraviolet spectra were also obtained by other spacecraft and by sounding rocket instruments, including a long-slit imaging spectrograph. Further advances await future ultraviolet observations of comets by the Hubble Space Telescope and other planned ultraviolet astronomy missions.

Type
Section I: Observing Techniques and Interpretation
Information
International Astronomical Union Colloquium , Volume 116 , Issue 1: Comets in the Post-Halley Era , 1989 , pp. 139 - 148
Copyright
Copyright © Kluwer 1991

References

A’Hearn, M.F., Feldman, P.D., and Schleicher, D.G. 1983, The discovery of S2 in comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock 1983d, Astrophys. J. (Letters) 274, L99–L103.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
A’Hearn, M.F., Schleicher, D.G., and West, R.A. 1985, Emission by OD in comets, Astrophys. J. 297, 826–836.Google Scholar
Bar-Nun, A., and Prialnik, D. 1988, The possible formation of a hydrogen coma around comets at large heliocentric distances, Astrophys. J. 324, L31–L34.Google Scholar
Bertaux, J.-L. 1986, The UV bright spot of water vapor in comets, Astron. Astrophys. 160, L7–L10.Google Scholar
Boyarchuk, A.A., Grinin, V.P., Sheikhet, A.I., and Zvereva, A.M. 1987, Pre- and post-perihelion Astron ultraviolet spectrophotometry of Comet Halley: a compara tive analysis, Sov. Astron. Lett. 13, 92–96.Google Scholar
Craven, J.D., and Frank, L.A. 1987, Atomic hydrogen production rates for comet P/Halley from observations with Dynamics Explorer 1, Astron. Astrophys. 187, 351–356.Google Scholar
Dymond, K.F. 1988, Far-ultraviolet spectroscopy of comet Halley (1986 III), Ph.D. Dissertation, The Johns Hopkins University.Google Scholar
Dymond, K.F., Feldman, P.D., and Woods, T.N. 1989, Observations of a Greenstein effect in the OI X1302 emission of comet Halley, Astrophys. J. 338, 1115–1121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eberhardt, P., et al. 1987a, The CO and N2 abundance in comet P/Halley, Astron. Astrophys. 187, 481–484.Google Scholar
Eberhardt, P., et al. 1987b, The D/H ratio in water from comet P/Halley, Astron. Astro phys. 187, 435–437.Google Scholar
Feldman, P.D. 1982, Ultraviolet spectroscopy of comae, in “Comets”, ed. Wilkening, L. L., Univ. Arizona Press, Tucson, pp. 461–479.Google Scholar
Feldman, P.D. 1983, Ultraviolet spectroscopy and the composition of cometaryice, Science 219, 347–354.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Feldman, P.D. 1989, Rocket and satellite observations of the ultraviolet emissions of comet Halley, in “Comet Halley 1986: World-Wide Investigations, Results and Interpretations”, Ellis Horwood Ltd., Chichester, in press.Google Scholar
Feldman, P.D., and Brune, W.H. 1976, Carbon production in comet West (1975n), Astrophys. J. (Letters) 209, L145–L148.Google Scholar
Feldman, P.D., and Fastie, W.G. 1973, Fluorescence of molecular hydrogen excited by solar extreme ultraviolet radiation, Astrophys. J. (Letters) 185, L101–L104.Google Scholar
Feldman, P.D., A’Hearn, M.F., and Millis, R.L. 1984, Temporal and spatial behavior of the ultraviolet emissions of comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock (1983d), Astrophys. J. 282, 799–802.Google Scholar
Feldman, P.D., et al. 1987, IUE observations of comet P/Halley: Evolution of the ultra violet spectrum between September 1985 and July 1986, Astron. Astrophys. 187, 325–328.Google Scholar
Festou, M. C., and Feldman, P.D. 1987, Comets, in “Exploring the Universe With the IUE Satellite”, ed. Kondo, Y., Reidel, Dordrecht, 101–118.Google Scholar
Gérard, E., Bockelée-Morvan, D., Bourgois, G., Colom, P., and Crovisier, J. 1987, 18-cm wavelength radio monitoring of the OH radical in comet P/Halley 1982i, Astron. Astrophys. 187, 455–461.Google Scholar
Kaneda, E., Ashihara, O., Shimizu, M., Takagi, M., and Hirao, K. 1986, Observation of comet Halley by the ultraviolet images of Suisei, Nature 321, 297–299.Google Scholar
Kim, S.J., and A’Hearn, M.F. 1989, Sulfur compounds in comets, paper presented at IAU Colloquium No. 116, Comets in the Post-Halley Era, Bamberg, F.R.C., April 24-28, 1989.Google Scholar
Krankowsky, D., and Eberhardt, P. 1989, Evidence for the composition of ices in the nucleus of comet Halley, in “Comet Halley 1986: World-Wide Investigations, Results and Interpretations”, Ellis Horwood Ltd., Chichester, in press.Google Scholar
Krankowsky, D., et al. 1986, In situ gas and ion measurements at comet Halley, Nature 321, 326–329.Google Scholar
Larson, H.P., Weaver, H.A., Mumma, M.J., and Drapatz, S. 1989, Airborne infrared spectroscopy of comet Wilson (1986I) and comparisons with comet Halley, Astro phys. J. 338, 1106–1114.Google Scholar
McCoy, R.P., Opal, C. B., and Carruthers, G.R. 1986, Far-ultraviolet spectral images of comet Halley from sounding rockets, Nature 324, 439–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McFadden, L.A., A’Hearn, M.F., Feldman, P.D., Roettger, E.E., Edsall, D.M., and Butterworth, P.S. 1987, Activity of comet P/Halley 23-25 March 1986: IUE obser vations, Astron. Astrophys. 187, 333–338.Google Scholar
Moreels, G., et al. 1987, Spectrophotometry of comet P/Halley at wavelengths 275-710 nm from Vega 2, Astron. Astrophys. 187, 551–559.Google Scholar
Roettger, E.E., Feldman, P.D., A’Hearn, M.F., Festou, M.C., McFadden, L.A., and Gilmozzi, R. 1989, IUE observations of the evolution of comet Wilson (1986I), Icarus 80, 303–314.Google Scholar
Schleicher, D.G., et al. 1986, Comets P/Giacobini-Zinner and P/Halley at high dispersion, in “New Insights in Astrophysics; 8 Years of UV astronomy with IUE”, ESA SP-263, 31–33.Google Scholar
Schleicher, D.G., and A’Hearn, M.F. 1988, The fluorescence of cometary OH, Astro phys. J. 331, 1058–1077.Google Scholar
Schloerb, F.P. 1988, Collisional quenching of cometary emission in the 18 centimeter OH transitions, Astrophys. J. 332, 524–530.Google Scholar
Schloerb, F.P., Claussen, M.J., and Tacconi-Garman, L. 1987, OH radio observations of comet P/Halley, Astron. Astrophys. 187, 469–474.Google Scholar
Spinrad, H., McCarthy, P.J., and Strauss, M.A. 1986, Oxygen production rates for P/Halley over much of the 1985-1986 apparition, in “Exploration of Halley’s Comet”, ESA SP-250, vol. 1, 437–438.Google Scholar
Stewart, A.I.F. 1987, Pioneer Venus measurements of H, O, and C. production in comet P/Halley near perihelion, Astron. Astrophys. 187, 369–374.Google Scholar
Wallis, M.K., and Krishna Swamy, K.S. 1987, Some diatomic molecules from comet P/Halley’s UV spectra near spacecraft flybys, Astron. Astrophys. 187, 329–332.Google Scholar
Weaver, H.A., Mumma, M.J., and Larson, H.P. 1987, Infrared investigation of water in comet P/Halley, Astrou. Astrophys. 187, 411–418.Google Scholar
Whipple, F.L. 1950, A comet model. I. The acceleration of comet Encke, Astrophys. J. 1ll, 375–394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woods, T.N., Feldman, P.D., Dymond, K.F., and Sahnow, D.J. 1986, Rocket ultra violet spectroscopy of comet Halley and abundance of carbon monoxide and Carlson. Nature 324, 436–438.Google Scholar