Far Infrared Spectra of Comets Beyond 5 AU

Details Far Infrared Spectra of Comets Beyond 5 AU Far Infrared Spectra of Comets Beyond 5 AU

Sep 2006

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.2906w&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #29.06; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.535

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

While it is widely believed that CO2 makes up a significant fraction of the total mass of Oort Cloud comets and distant comets, it has only rarely been actually measured as it is impossible to detect from the ground. The Spitzer Space Telescope offers an opportunity to expand our understanding of cometary CO2 through observations of the ν=2 band near 15.0 μm. Using the high resolution mode of the IRS instrument aboard Spitzer, we have observed two active Centaurs and one long-period comet whose perihelia are all greater than 5 AU with the high resolution mode of the Spitzer IRS. These comets have likely never come close enough to the sun to have significant water ice sublimation, so their activity is thought to be completely driven by CO and CO2. The high resolution mode provides the advantage of less diluting flux per spectral bin from the strong dust thermal emission at 15 μm.
We will present Spitzer spectra of 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1, 95P/Chiron, and C/2003 O1 (LINEAR), and discuss CO2 production rates. Since the spectra also provide us with dust production rates, we will constrain the gas-to-dust ratio of these comets in comparison to those of Jupiter-family, Halley-family, and long-period comets.

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