Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Jul 1997
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1997dps....29.3407l&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #29, #34.07; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 29, p.1041
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Scientific paper
We present maps of the HCO+ J=1-0 emission in the coma of comet C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp. The maps were assembled over the time period from March to June of 1997 using the QUARRY 15-element focal plane array receiver on the Five-College Radio Astronomy Observatory (FCRAO) 14-m antenna. The HCO+ emission is detectable over an extended region corresponding to 300,000 km at the comet, compared to the 50,000 -- 100,000 km scale that characterizes our observations of neutral species. Maps made throughout the apparition show significant day-to-day variability in the structure of the HCO+ coma. The strongest HCO+ features are not typically located at the nucleus position. A common morphology is a peak in the emission located 50,000 -- 100,000 km anti-sunward from the nucleus. However, on some days the HCO+ emission forms a ring around the position of the nucleus. Individual spectra within the maps display broad (approximately 4 km/s) lines, redshifted by 1-2 km/s or more from the nominal nuclear velocity. Simple models of the production and outflow of HCO+ can account for the tailward offset of the peak emission, the enhanced line width, and the redshift of the lines with a tailward acceleration of the ions, presumably due to interaction with the solar wind. However, the explanation of the complex spatial distribution of intensities may require a more complex, MHD model.
de Vries Christopher H.
Dickens James E. Jr.
Irvine William M.
Lovell Amy Jean
Schloerb Peter F.
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