CO2 Sublimation in Comets Beyond 5 AU

Details CO2 Sublimation in Comets Beyond 5 AU CO2 Sublimation in Comets Beyond 5 AU

Jun 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005sptz.prop20639w&link_type=abstract

Spitzer Proposal ID #20639

Computer Science

Scientific paper

While it is widely believed that CO_2 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 a unique opportunity to expand our understanding of cometary CO_2 through observations of the nu_2 band near 15.0 microns. We propose to observe CO_2 in two active Centaurs and one long-period comet whose perihelia are all greater than 5 AU. These comets have likely never come close enough to the sun to warm to the temperature required for water sublimation, so their activity is thought to be completely driven by CO and CO_2. We will compare the CO_2 production rates with dust production rates obtained simultaneously from the IRS spectra. We will also compare CO_2 production with the gas production rates or upper limits from our in-hand Keck LRIS spectra of the same objects. We will begin to constrain the structure and composition of these distant objects.

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