Astronomy and Astrophysics – Astronomy
Scientific paper
Sep 2006
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2006dps....38.0305d&link_type=abstract
American Astronomical Society, DPS meeting #38, #03.05; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 38, p.485
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Astronomy
1
Scientific paper
Several factors contributed to make the 2006 apparition of comet 73P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 (a short period comet of probable Kuiper belt origin) an exceptional observing opportunity: (1) 73P has recently experienced disruptions, potentially exposing fresh material in observable fragments; (2) Two fragments (B and C) were productive enough to obtain molecular detections with high signal-to-noise ratios; and (3) 73P had a very close encounter with Earth in May 2006 allowing observations with high spatial resolution. Determining the chemical composition of 73P addresses several important questions. First, Kuiper belt comets, although essential for creating a complete chemical taxonomy of comets, are underrepresented in current cometary molecular surveys. Short-period comets are generally too faint to allow detailed spectroscopic investigations of parent volatiles, but 73P was also exceptional in that regard. Second, although Kuiper belt comets are typically highly evolved from numerous perihelion passages, the fragmentation of 73P provided a unique opportunity to measure the chemistry of a fresh surface of a Jupiter-family comet. Finally, a test for chemical heterogeneity within a comet nucleus was obtained by measuring the volatile abundances in two distinct fragments. We present volatile production rates, relative abundances, and rotational temperatures for several molecules in the comae of 73P-B and 73P-C on three dates (UT May 9.5, 14.5, and 15.6, 2006) using the CSHELL (IRTF) and NIRSPEC (Keck 2) spectrometers (R 25,000). We compare the chemical compositions of the fragments and discuss variations in absolute production rates. A related presentation at this meeting by Vervack et al. will report the spatial distribution of species in the comae of 73P-B and 73P-C on these dates. This work was supported by the NASA Planetary Atmospheres and Planetary Astronomy Programs.
Biver Nicolas
Bockelée-Morvan Dominique
Crovisier Jacques
Dello Russo Neil
Lisse Carey Michael
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