FUV Observations of the Inner Coma of 46P/Wirtanen
Far-ultraviolet observations of comets yield information about the energetic processes that dissociate the sublimated gases from their primitive surfaces. Understanding which emission processes are dominant, their effects on the observed cometary spectrum, and how to properly invert the spectrum bac...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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IOP Publishing
2021-01-01
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| Series: | The Planetary Science Journal |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/abd038 |
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| author | John W. Noonan Walter M. Harris Steven Bromley Davide Farnocchia Jian-Yang Li Kathleen E. Mandt Joel Wm. Parker Kumar Venkataramani Dennis Bodewits |
| author_facet | John W. Noonan Walter M. Harris Steven Bromley Davide Farnocchia Jian-Yang Li Kathleen E. Mandt Joel Wm. Parker Kumar Venkataramani Dennis Bodewits |
| author_sort | John W. Noonan |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Far-ultraviolet observations of comets yield information about the energetic processes that dissociate the sublimated gases from their primitive surfaces. Understanding which emission processes are dominant, their effects on the observed cometary spectrum, and how to properly invert the spectrum back to the composition of the presumably pristine surface ices of a comet nuclei are all critical components for proper interpretation and analysis of comets. The close approach of comet 46P/Wirtanen in 2018–2019 provided a unique opportunity to study the innermost parts of a cometary coma with the Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, rarely accessible with remote observations, at length scales (hundreds of kilometers) and wavelengths (900–1430 Å) previously probed only by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft. Our observations show a complex picture for the inner coma; atomic production rates for H and O that show water is the dominant source of both, an abundance of atomic sulfur that is difficult to explain with the lifetimes of common sulfur parent molecules, and a density distribution that is poorly fit with both Haser and vectorial models. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6042cd85229f4d9ba081effd0acaa032 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2632-3338 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | IOP Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | The Planetary Science Journal |
| spelling | doaj-art-6042cd85229f4d9ba081effd0acaa0322025-08-20T02:12:20ZengIOP PublishingThe Planetary Science Journal2632-33382021-01-0121810.3847/PSJ/abd038FUV Observations of the Inner Coma of 46P/WirtanenJohn W. Noonan0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2152-6987Walter M. Harris1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8378-4503Steven Bromley2https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2110-8152Davide Farnocchia3https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0774-884XJian-Yang Li4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3841-9977Kathleen E. Mandt5https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8397-3315Joel Wm. Parker6https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3672-0603Kumar Venkataramani7https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3321-1472Dennis Bodewits8https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2668-7248Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona , 1629 E University Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85721-0092, USA ; noonan@lpl.arizona.eduLunar and Planetary Laboratory, University of Arizona , 1629 E University Boulevard, Tucson, AZ 85721-0092, USA ; noonan@lpl.arizona.eduPhysics Department, Leach Science Center, Auburn University , Auburn, AL 36882, USAJet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology , 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USAPlanetary Science Institute , 1700 E. Ft. Lowell Road, Suite 106, Tucson, AZ 85719, USAJohns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory , 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, USAPlanetary Science Directorate, Southwest Research Institute , Suite 300, 1050 Walnut Street, Boulder, CO 80302, USAPhysics Department, Leach Science Center, Auburn University , Auburn, AL 36882, USAPhysics Department, Leach Science Center, Auburn University , Auburn, AL 36882, USAFar-ultraviolet observations of comets yield information about the energetic processes that dissociate the sublimated gases from their primitive surfaces. Understanding which emission processes are dominant, their effects on the observed cometary spectrum, and how to properly invert the spectrum back to the composition of the presumably pristine surface ices of a comet nuclei are all critical components for proper interpretation and analysis of comets. The close approach of comet 46P/Wirtanen in 2018–2019 provided a unique opportunity to study the innermost parts of a cometary coma with the Hubble Space Telescope Cosmic Origins Spectrograph, rarely accessible with remote observations, at length scales (hundreds of kilometers) and wavelengths (900–1430 Å) previously probed only by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft. Our observations show a complex picture for the inner coma; atomic production rates for H and O that show water is the dominant source of both, an abundance of atomic sulfur that is difficult to explain with the lifetimes of common sulfur parent molecules, and a density distribution that is poorly fit with both Haser and vectorial models.https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/abd038Short period cometsAtomic spectroscopyUltraviolet astronomy |
| spellingShingle | John W. Noonan Walter M. Harris Steven Bromley Davide Farnocchia Jian-Yang Li Kathleen E. Mandt Joel Wm. Parker Kumar Venkataramani Dennis Bodewits FUV Observations of the Inner Coma of 46P/Wirtanen The Planetary Science Journal Short period comets Atomic spectroscopy Ultraviolet astronomy |
| title | FUV Observations of the Inner Coma of 46P/Wirtanen |
| title_full | FUV Observations of the Inner Coma of 46P/Wirtanen |
| title_fullStr | FUV Observations of the Inner Coma of 46P/Wirtanen |
| title_full_unstemmed | FUV Observations of the Inner Coma of 46P/Wirtanen |
| title_short | FUV Observations of the Inner Coma of 46P/Wirtanen |
| title_sort | fuv observations of the inner coma of 46p wirtanen |
| topic | Short period comets Atomic spectroscopy Ultraviolet astronomy |
| url | https://doi.org/10.3847/PSJ/abd038 |
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