Comet 55P/Tempel-Tuttle
Abstract
T. L. Hayward, Cornell University; and M. S. Hanner, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, write: "We observed comet 55P in the mid-infrared on Jan. 14.5 UT with the 5-m Hale telescope (+ SpectroCam-10). Imaging at 10.3 microns revealed a point-like source with flux density 2.1 +/- 0.2 Jy. A spectrogram (range 8-13 microns; resolution 100) showed that the emission was close to a 320-K blackbody, compared to an equilibrium temperature of 253 K for r = 1.215 AU. A weak silicate feature may be present about 5 percent above the continuum. If the emission were from a bare nucleus at 320 K, then the observed flux implies a nuclear radius of 2 km."
- Publication:
-
International Astronomical Union Circular
- Pub Date:
- February 1998
- Bibcode:
- 1998IAUC.6824....2H