High Spatial Resolution Imaging of Comet Hale-Bopp {C/1995 O1}

Physics

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Hst Proposal Id #7240 Solar System

Scientific paper

Comet Hale-Bopp will provide an excellent opportunity for high-resolution imaging of the nuclear and inner coma regions of a bright comet. Observations in the near-infrared offer high contrast between the coma and nucleus since reflected sunlight/fluorescence are at a minimum and thermal emission from coma dust is important only at longer wavelengths. The primary scientific objective is to probe the production of gas and dust in the inner coma very near the nucleus and to monitor the emergence and activity of jet structures. Images will be obtained in/out of known spectral features due to water ice {2.04 microns}, gaseous water {1.9 microns}, and C2 {1.9-2.0 microns}. If a nuclear rotation period has been determined prior to the time of the observations, this will be used to devise an optimal strategy for measuring the nuclear brightness as a function of rotational phase. There also exists the possibility that the nucleus will fragment or undergo enormous flaring, in which c ases it will be important to have repeated observations. Unfortunately, the comet's solar elongation angle is below HST limits in March '97 when it is closest to earth. Observations should be obtained as soon as possible after the comet emerges from solar avoidance between 25-27 August. Parallel imaging with STIS requires the maximum allowable roll angle of +5 deg.

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