Other
Scientific paper
Oct 2007
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2007dps....39.3605h&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #39, #36.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 39, p.486
Other
1
Scientific paper
The fragmented comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 was observed using both the Arecibo (12.6 cm) and Goldstone (3.5 cm) planetary radar systems on 10 nights in May 2006. We obtained radar spectra and images of both the comae and nuclei of fragments B and C. 73P/SW3 is only the second comet whose nuclei have been imaged with radar and the first at sub-50-m resolution. We also obtained the first radar image of a cometary coma, which reveals a population of particles 2-cm and larger. The velocity distribution of these particles is size-dependent: smaller particles are moving at higher velocities. Centimeter-sized coma particles near the nucleus at high velocity appear only after about 6 hours, and then persist for at least 2 days. This indicates that the material leaving the nucleus is either in large fragments which later break up, or that low velocity particles are being accelerated. Spectral line observations of OH in the coma of fragments B and C indicate an average water outflow velocity of 0.73 +/- 0.04 km/s from the nucleus. The outflow velocities from fragments B and C are indistinguishable between 17 April and 22 May 2006. The delay-Doppler images of fragment C show it to be a rounded, irregular object with a diameter of 1-2 km. There are clear indications of features, similar to craters and other topographical features seen in spacecraft images of other cometary nuclei. The images of fragment B are unusual, and indicate a diameter no smaller than 400 m. Since the gas production rates and outflow velocities of fragments B and C are similar, the percentage of active area on fragment B must be much larger. The Arecibo Observatory is operated by Cornell University under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation.
Benner Lance A.
Campbell Don B.
Harmon John K.
Howell Ellen S.
Lovell Amy Jean
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