Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite Observations of Comet 9P/Tempel 1
Abstract
We present observations of the 1_{10}-1_{01} ortho-water ground-state rotational transition in comet 9P/Tempel 1 made with the NASA Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite (SWAS). The SWAS monitoring covered a 3-month period from June to August 2005 and included observations of the comet's activity during the collision of the Deep Impact spacecraft with the nucleus on 4 July 2005. No excess emission from the material ejected by the impactor was detected and we derive an upper limit of 1.8× 10^7 kg on the vaporized water ice. However, the water production rate of the comet shows large natural variations of up to a factor of three throughout the 3-month monitoring period. The total amount of water vaporized between 5 June and 1 September 2005 is 4.5× 1034 molecules (∼ 1.3× 10^9 kg) and we estimate that 9P/Tempel 1 has lost as much as N∼ 1035 molecules during its 2005 apparition.
- Publication:
-
Deep Impact as a World Observatory Event: Synergies in Space, Time, and Wavelength
- Pub Date:
- 2009
- DOI:
- 10.1007/978-3-540-76959-0_28
- Bibcode:
- 2009diwo.conf..221B