Bulg. J. Phys. vol.27 no.S1 (2000), pp. 050-053



H2O+ and CO+ in Comet C/1999 J3 (Linear)

T. Bonev1, K. Jockers2, P. Korsun3, N. Karpov4, A. Sergeev4
1Institute of Astronomy, 72 Tsarigradsko chaussee, blvd, 1784 Sofia, Bulgaria
2Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie, D-37191 Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany
3Main Astronomical Observatory of the National Acad. Sci., 252650 Kyiv, Golosiiv, Ukraine
4International Center for Astronomical and Medico-Ecological Studies, 252650 Kyiv, Golosiiv, Ukraine
Abstract. The water and carbon monoxide content of comets holds clues for the H, C and 0 abundance of the environment in which they formed. It is therefore important to obtain information about water and CO in as many comets as possible. The ions of water and CO can be investigated from the ground. They were observed in the near-parabolic comet C/199913 (Linear) on September 16, 17, and 18, when the comet had both heliocentric and geocentric distance very close to 1 AU. The observations were obtained at the 2m-Zeiss-RCC-Telescope of Pik Terskol Observatory, Northern Caucasus, with the Two-Channel Focal Reducer of the Max-Planck-Institute for Aeronomy. Filter images of CO+ at 426 nm and of H2O+ at 614 nm were taken simultaneously. In addition, interferogramms were obtained through a solid etalon to derive the ion outflow speed. We present column density maps of both ions, their ratio, and estimate the production of neutral water.

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