Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 1982
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1982pasp...94.1008s&link_type=abstract
Astronomical Society of the Pacific, Publications, vol. 94, Dec. 1982, p. 1008-1016. Research supported by the University of Cal
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
33
Comet Nuclei, Forbidden Transitions, Oxygen Production, Oxygen Spectra, Spectrophotometry, Abundance, Auroral Spectroscopy, Encke Comet, Kohoutek Comet
Scientific paper
The digital sky-subtracted spectra of nine cometary nuclei are used to measure the 6300, 6363-A Auroral red doublet of the O I forbidden line, and in view of the confinement of the cometary oxygen lines to their nuclear source, a small but variable correction for NH2 blending in different comets is made. For seven of the comets measured, and under the assumption of H2O's exclusive role as the oxygen parent, the average Q(H2O)/Q(O I) ratio is about 20. This is in excellent accord with theory, and it is conjectured that the O I production rate can be used to scale the total cometary volatile loss in even faint, distant comets. The data obtained are consistent with heliocentric production rates that vary as power laws, with n values of 2.0 for 'gassy' comets and nearer to 5.0 for dusty ones. The comets with the greatest volatile mass-loss rates all were found to have dusty spectra.
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