Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astrophysics
Scientific paper
May 1986
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1986a%26a...160l...7b&link_type=abstract
Astronomy and Astrophysics (ISSN 0004-6361), vol. 160, no. 2, May 1986, p. L7-L10.
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astrophysics
11
Cometary Atmospheres, Ultraviolet Spectra, Water Vapor, Atmospheric Composition, Brightness Distribution, Comet Nuclei, Emission Spectra, Iras-Araki-Alcock Comet, Photodissociation, Solar Activity Effects
Scientific paper
A mechanism consisting of the emissive photodissociation of H2O by solar Lyman alpha photons to create a number of OH radicals in the excited state A 2Sigma(+) which are immediately deexcited to the X 2 pi state by spontaneous emission around 310 nm wavelength is proposed which would make possible the detection of cometary nucleus water vapor. It is suggested that within 33 km around the nucleus this emission should be brighter than direct resonance fluorescence of OH, allowing the direct mapping of the H2O distribution, and that the diameter of this UV bright spot of water increases with the square of the sun-comet distance, independent of the water vapor production rate. Tentative confirmation of the effect was obtained with comparison of UV spectra of comet Iras-Araki-Alcock taken at two distances from the nucleus.
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