Physics
Scientific paper
May 2011
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011icar..213..280l&link_type=abstract
Icarus, Volume 213, Issue 1, p. 280-322.
Physics
4
Scientific paper
We present the results of a program of comet long-slit spectroscopy with the Kast Dual Spectrograph on the 3-m Shane Telescope at Lick Observatory. A total of 26 comets, from a variety of dynamical families, were observed on 39 different nights from 1996 to 2007. A new statistical method extracted the twilight sky from comet frames, because traditional sky subtraction techniques were inadequate. Because previously published Haser model parent and daughter scale lengths did not fit the data well, unbiased ranges of scale lengths were searched for the best-fitting pairs. Coma gas production rates for OH, CN, C2, C3, NH, NH2, and OH confirmed the widely reported carbon-chain depletion for a sub-class of comets, most notably high-perihelion Jupiter-family comets observed at rh > 1.5 AU, with different behaviors for C2 and C3. Our long-slit spectroscopy data was also adapted for the A(θ)fρ dust production parameter. The assumption that A(θ)fρ is constant throughout the nucleus was not upheld. High dust-to-gas ratios for comets with large perihelia were not a selection effect, and suggest that the dust was released earlier in the formation of the coma than the gas. The dust-to-gas ratio did not exhibit any evolutionary traces between different comet dynamical families. The comet survey illuminates the diversity among comets, including the unusually carbon poor Comet 96P/Machholz.
Langland-Shula Laura E.
Smith Graeme H.
No associations
LandOfFree
Comet classification with new methods for gas and dust spectroscopy does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Comet classification with new methods for gas and dust spectroscopy, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Comet classification with new methods for gas and dust spectroscopy will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-931692