Abstract
The ultraviolet spectrum of a comet's coma is dominated by emissions from the dissociation products of water, OH, H and O, and from secondary species: C, C+, CO, CO+, CO+2, S, and CS (ref. 1). We report here two far ultraviolet observations of comet Halley made on 26 February 1986 and 13 March 1986 with a sounding rocket experiment. This is the first time that long-slit spectroscopy, a standard technique for the study of extended objects such as comets and nebulae, has been applied to the far ultraviolet study of a comet. The observed CO spatial profiles can be modelled by a radial outflow model2 for a parent molecule and suggest that the CO is produced directly from the nucleus of the comet. Using the observed O I emission profile to deduce the H2O production rate, the abundance of CO relative to H2O is found to be 20 ± 5% for the first flight and 17 ± 4% for the second flight, making CO the second most abundant parent molecule in the coma. The derived production rate of atomic carbon is consistent with that expected from the photodissociation of carbon monoxide.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
Purchase on Springer Link
Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Feldman, P. D. Science 219, 347–354 (1983).
Festou, M. C. Astr. Astrophys. 95, 69–79; 96, 52–57 (1981).
Feldman, P. D. Astr. Astrophys. 70, 547–553 (1978); in Asteroids, Comets, Meteors II. (eds Lagerkvist, C.-I. et al.) 263–267 (Reprocentralen HSC, Uppsala, 1986).
Weaver, H. A. thesis, The Johns Hopkins Univ. (1981).
Festou, M. C. Adv. Space Res. 4, 165–175 (1984).
Festou, M. C. et al. Nature 321, 361–363 (1986).
Hartig, G. F., Fastie, W. G. & Davidsen, A. F. Appl. Opt. 19, 729–740 (1980).
Durrance, S. T. J. geophys. Res. 86, 9115–9124 (1981).
Feldman, P. D. et al. Nature (in the press).
Balsiger, H. et al. Nature 321, 330–334 (1986).
Gringauz, K. I. et al. Nature 321, 282–285 (1986).
Krankowsky, D. et al. Nature 321, 326–329 (1986).
Huebner, W. F. & Carpenter, C. W. Solar Photo Rate Coefficients (Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory Rep. LA-8085-MS, 1979).
Feldman, P. D. in Comets (ed. Wilkening, L. L.) 461–479 (University of Arizona Press, Tucson, 1983)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Woods, T., Feldman, P., Dymond, K. et al. Rocket ultraviolet spectroscopy of comet Halley and abundance of carbon monoxide and carbon. Nature 324, 436–438 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1038/324436a0
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/324436a0
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.