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Tentative identification of S 2 in the IUE spectra of comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2)
Author(s) -
Laffont Céline,
Boice D. C.,
Moreels G.,
Clairemidi J.,
Rousselot P.,
Andernach H.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/98gl01953
Subject(s) - comet , physics , spectral line , satellite , production rate , astrophysics , astronomy , industrial engineering , engineering
Spectra of Comet Hyakutake were obtained with the International Ultraviolet Explorer (IUE) satellite on February 19, 1996, (20 days after its discovery on January 31), and later during its closest approach to the Earth at the end of March, with a geocentric distance of 0.1 AU. The cometary spectra are compared with a synthetic fluorescence spectrum of S 2 On March 27, we find that both synthetic and cometary spectra are reasonably correlated. This suggests that S 2 was probably present in the cometary spectrum with a production rate between 6.5×10 24 and 1.0×10 25 molec/s and an abundance of 0.005 to 0.009% relative to water.