The nature of cometary grains from remote sensing

Physical property data of cometary grains are derived primarily from thermal emission measurement and optical scattering. Results consistent with the properties of micrometeorites collected in the stratosphere are described

Cometary dust composition

The earth based measurements and in situ sampling of Comet Halley have provided new data about the chemical composition of cometary grains. Recent progress in laboratory studies of interplanetary dust particles (IDPs) complement the comet data, allowing inferences about the mineralogy and physical structure of the comet dust to be drawn from the observed elemental composition and infrared spectra. The in situ dust composition measurements at Halley, the composition of IDPs and their relation to comet dust, and the origin of the 3.4 micron hydrocarbon feature is discussed. Related discussion is also presented on aromatic components in comets and the 3.4 micron feature. These topics are briefly summarized

Quantification of UV stimulated ice chemistry: CO and CO2

Recent laboratory experiments are presented that show that during photolysis of the pure ices there is evidence of the interconversion of CO to CO2 and CO2 to CO using Lyman alpha (1216A) radiation. In addition, there is a substantial amount of another substance being produced. This substance is evident by its infrared absorption peak at 2235 cm(-1). It is believed that this new peak is due to carbon suboxide, C3O2. CO and CO2 have already been detected in comets, and C3O2 has been suggested as a cometary from radiation of CO. Comparisons are made between our results at 1215A and proton radiation experiments and radiation at other wavelengths. The suggestion is that the processing of ices is energy dependent, i.e., dependent on the type of radiation. Several difficult problems have to be solved before these radiation conversions can be quantified. The steps that we are taking to quantify the kinetics are discussed

A Spitzer Study of Comets 2P/Encke, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and C/2001 HT50 (LINEAR-NEAT)

We present infrared images and spectra of comets 2P/Encke, 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and C/2001 HT50 (LINEAR-NEAT) as part of a larger program to observe comets inside of 5 AU from the sun with the Spitzer Space Telescope. The nucleus of comet 2P/Encke was observed at two vastly different phase angles (20 degrees and 63 degrees). Model fits to the spectral energy distributions of the nucleus suggest comet Encke's infrared beaming parameter derived from the near-Earth asteroid thermal model may have a phase angle dependence. The observed emission from comet Encke's dust coma is best-modeled using predominately amorphous carbon grains with a grain size distribution that peaks near 0.4 microns, and the silicate contribution by mass to the sub-micron dust coma is constrained to 31%. Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko was observed with distinct coma emission in excess of a model nucleus at a heliocentric distance of 5.0 AU. The coma detection suggests that sublimation processes are still active or grains from recent activity remain near the nucleus. Comet C/2001 HT50 (LINEAR-NEAT) showed evidence for crystalline silicates in the spectrum obtained at 3.2 AU and we derive a silicate-to-carbon dust ratio of 0.6. The ratio is an order of magnitude lower than that derived for comets 9P/Tempel 1 during the Deep Impact encounter and C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp).Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal 48 pages, 15 figures, 10 table

3 - 14 Micron Spectroscopy of Comets C/2002 O4 (Honig), C/2002 V1 (NEAT), C/2002 X5 (Kudo-Fujikawa), C/2002 Y1 (Juels-Holvorcem), 69P/Taylor, and the Relationships among Grain Temperature, Silicate Band Strength and Structure among Comet Families

We report 3 - 13 micron spectroscopy of 4 comets observed between August 2002 and February 2003: C/2002 O4 (Honig) on August 1, 2002, C/2002 V1 (NEAT) on Jan. 9 and 10, 2003, C/2002 X5 (Kudo-Fujikawa) on Jan. 9 and 10, 2003, and C/2002 Y1 (Juels-Holvorcem) on Feb. 20, 2003. In addition, we include data obtained much earlier on 69P/Taylor (February 9, 1998) but not previously published. For Comets Taylor, Honig, NEAT, and Kudo-Fujikawa, the silicate emission band was detected, being approximately 23%, 12%, 15%, and 10%, respectively, above the continuum. The data for Comet Juels-Holvorcem were of insufficient quality to detect the presence of a silicate band of comparable strength to the other three objects, and we place an upper limit of 24% on this feature. The silicate features in both NEAT and Kudo-Fujikawa contained structure indicating the presence of crystalline material. Combining these data with those of other comets, we confirm the correlation between silicate band strength and grain temperature of Gehrz & Ney (1992) and Williams et al. (1997) for dynamically new and long period comets, but the majority of Jupiter family objects may deviate from this relation. The limited data available on Jupiter family objects suggest that they may have silicate bands that are slightly different from the former objects. Finally, when compared to the silicate emission bands observed in pre-main sequence stars, the dynamically new and long period comets most closely resemble the more evolved stellar systems, while the limited data (in quantity and quality) on Jupiter family objects seem to suggest that these have spectra more like the less-evolved stars.Comment: 45 pages, 12 figure

Solar System Objects in the ISOPHOT 170 micron Serendipity Survey

The ISOPHOT Serendipity Survey (ISOSS) covered approximately 15 % of the sky at a wavelength of 170 micron while the ISO satellite was slewing from one target to the next. By chance ISOSS slews went over many solar system objects (SSOs). We identified the comets, asteroids and planets in the slews through a fast and effective search procedure based on N-body ephemeris and flux estimates. The detections were analysed from a calibration and scientific point of view. Through the measurements of the well-known asteroids Ceres, Pallas, Juno and Vesta and the planets Uranus and Neptune it was possible to improve the photometric calibration of ISOSS and to extend it to higher flux regimes. We were also able to establish calibration schemes for the important slew end data. For the other asteroids we derived radiometric diameters and albedos through a recent thermophysical model. The scientific results are discussed in the context of our current knowledge of size, shape and albedos, derived from IRAS observations, occultation measurements and lightcurve inversion techniques. In all cases where IRAS observations were available we confirm the derived diameters and albedos. For the five asteroids without IRAS detections only one was clearly detected and the radiometric results agreed with sizes given by occultation and HST observations. Four different comets have clearly been detected at 170 micron and two have marginal detections. The observational results are presented to be used by thermal comet models in the future. The nine ISOSS slews over Hale-Bopp revealed extended and asymmetric structures related to the dust tail. We attribute the enhanced emission in post-perihelion observations to large particles around the nucleus. The signal patterns are indicative of a concentration of the particles in trail direction.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 6 tables; Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

The NASA Infrared Telescope Facility Comet Halley monitoring program 2: Post-perihelion results

The post perihelion results of a 1 to 20 micrometer infrared monitoring program of Comet Halley are presented. These results complement previous observations of the pre-perihelion passages of Halley. The observations cover the time period of Mar. 1986 to the present time. During the time the comet was observable, two or more observations were obtained per month. The most interesting results were: (1) a detectable change in the J-H and H-K colors of Halley, and (2) a search for a nucleus rotation at J during 20 Feb. to 10 Mar. was unsuccessful. The perihelion J-H and K-K colors were constant at 0.48 + or - 0.01 and 0.17, respectively. A preliminary reduction of the data is given. It is concluded that the colors were at first similar to pre-perihelion and then changed from July onward to be bluer and more similar to the solar colors. This suggests that a change may have occurred in the composition of the dust coma of Halley in July 1986

The Stardust – a successful encounter with the remarkable comet Wild 2

On January 2, 2004 the Stardust spacecraft completed a close flyby of comet Wild2 (P81). Flying at a relative speed of 6.1 km/s within 237km of the 5 km nucleus, the spacecraft took 72 close-in images, measured the flux of impacting particles and did TOF mass spectrometry