Cyanide Chemistry in Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1)

Details Cyanide Chemistry in Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) Cyanide Chemistry in Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1)

Dec 1999

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1999apj...527l..67z&link_type=abstract

The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 527, Issue 1, pp. L67-L71.

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

41

Comets: Individual: Name: Hale-Bopp 1995 O1, Molecular Processes, Radio Lines: Solar System

Scientific paper

Observations of comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) have been carried out near perihelion (1997 March) at millimeter wavelengths using the NRAO 12 m telescope. The J=1-->0, 2-->1, and 3-->2 lines of HCN at 88, 177, and 265 GHz were measured in the comet as well as the J=3-->2 lines of H13CN, HC15N, and HNC. The N=2-->1 transition of CN near 226 GHz was also detected, and an upper limit was obtained for the J=2-->1 line of HCNH+. From the measurements, column densities and production rates have been estimated. A column density ratio of [HCN]/[HNC] = 7+/-1 was observed near perihelion, while it was found that [HCN]/[HCNH+] >~ 1. The production rates at perihelion for HCN and CN were estimated to be Q(HCN) ~ 1x1028 s-1 and Q(CN) ~ 2.6x1027 s-1, respectively, resulting in a ratio of [HCN]/[CN] ~= 3. Consequently, HCN is sufficiently abundant to be the parent molecule of CN in Hale-Bopp, and HCNH+ could be a source of HNC. Finally, carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios of 12C/13C = 109+/-22 and 14N/15N = 330+/-98 were obtained from HCN measurements, in agreement with previous values obtained from J=4-->3 data. Such ratios suggest that comet Hale-Bopp formed coevally with the solar system.

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