On the identification of formaldehyde in Halley's comet

Details On the identification of formaldehyde in Halley's comet On the identification of formaldehyde in Halley's comet

Sep 1989

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1989apj...344..940m&link_type=abstract

Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 344, Sept. 15, 1989, p. 940-948.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astrophysics

42

Cometary Atmospheres, Formaldehyde, Halley'S Comet, Infrared Spectra, Interstellar Chemistry, Abundance, Comet Nuclei, Fluorescence, Temperature Distribution, Vega Project, Comets, Halley, Formaldehyde, Spectra, Comparisons, Production Rate, Temperature, Earth-Based Observations, Wilson, Abundance, Infrared, Wavelengths, Molecular Processes, Vega 1 Mission, Iks Instrument, Spacecraft Observations, Models

Scientific paper

The v1 and v5 infrared bands of formaldehyde in Halley's comet have been synthesized, using a line-by-line model for solar infrared fluorescence from low-temperature H2CO. Fully resolved spectra were convolved to spectral resolutions comparable with those used on the IKS spectrometer on the Vega 1 spacecraft. Excellent agreement is obtained between the observed and modeled spectra, permitting a definite identification of H2CO in Halley's comet. The retrieved production rate is 4.5 + or - 0.5 x 10 to the 28th molecules/s, and the rotational temperature is probably less than 150 K, with a best-fit value of about 50 K. Production rates (or upper limits) are also retrieved from ground-based spectra of Comets Halley and Wilson (1986), and it is shown that the production rate of H2CO exhibits significant temporal variability, relative to H2O, in Comet Halley.

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