Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 1986
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1986esasp.250a.577s&link_type=abstract
In ESA Proceedings of the 20th ESLAB Symposium on the Exploration of Halley's Comet. Volume 1: Plasma and Gas p 577-581 (SEE N87
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
7
Abundance, Cyano Compounds, Halley'S Comet, Hydrocyanic Acid, Outgassing, Radio Astronomy, Flow Velocity, Magnitude, Space Observations (From Earth)
Scientific paper
The authors present observations of the HCN J = 1 rotational transition at 3.4 mm wavelength in comet P/Halley made with the Five College Radio Astronomy Observatory 14 m antenna. These data were obtained during a total of 56 individual observing sessions between November 1985 and May 1986 and represent the first time that a cometary parent molecule has been so extensively monitored. The HCN production rate is well correlated with the total visual magnitude of the comet, indicating that HCN follows the overall gas and dust production. Spectra obtained by binning the HCN data with heliocentric distance show that the HCN line width, and thus the parent outflow velocity, increases with decreasing heliocentric distance, and that there is a tendency for the lines to be blue shifted as expected from the observed anisotropic outgassing from the nucleus. Finally, there is also evidence of day-to-day time variability in the total HCN emission and variations in the HCN hyperfine ratios from their LTE values.
Irvine William M.
Kinzel Wayne M.
Schloerb Peter F.
Swade Daryl Allen
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