Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Dec 1984
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1984nascp2349..502f&link_type=abstract
In NASA. Goddard Space Flight Center Future of Ultraviolet Astronomy Based on Six Years of IUE Res. p 502-503 (SEE N85-20961 1
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
Comet Nuclei, Ice, Iras-Araki-Alcock Comet, Sulfur, Irradiation, Iue, Volatility
Scientific paper
The discovery, by IUE, of the sulphur dimer, S2, in the near nucleus region of comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock provides studying cometary structure and evolution. Observations of S2 can be used to monitor short term fluctuations in cometary activity, and in fact the IUE observations showed a mark decrease in S2 surface brightness (a factor of 20) over a 32-hour period. The other ultraviolet emissions also decreased during this time but only by about a factor of 4. The ultraviolet data, coupled with the FES counts data, lead to a lower limit approximately 28 hours for the rotation period of the comet. This result is based on the assumption of a single localized region of volatile ices containing S2 on the surface of the cometary nucleus. The presences of S2 in the cometary ice also implies that significant irradiation of the cometary material must have occurred in its early evolutionary history. The possibility of strong irradiation of cometesimals during the pre-solar nebula phase in the interstellar medium is suggested.
Ahearn Michael F.
Feldman Paul D.
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