What Does It Mean to be a "Depleted" Comet? High Spectral Resolution Observations of the Prototypical Depleted Comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner from the McDonald Observatory
Abstract
We present high spectral resolution optical observations of comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner from six nights in 2018. The observations were obtained with the Tull Coudé Spectrograph on the 2.7 m Harlan J. Smith Telescope of the McDonald Observatory. This comet's spectrum shows strong depletions in C2, C3, CH, and NH2 relative to CN. We explore what it means for a comet to be depleted and show that all of the species are present in the spectrum at similar relative line intensities within a a molecular band compared with a typical comet. The depletions represent a much lower abundance of the species studied.
- Publication:
-
The Planetary Science Journal
- Pub Date:
- December 2020
- DOI:
- 10.3847/PSJ/abb471
- arXiv:
- arXiv:2009.01308
- Bibcode:
- 2020PSJ.....1...71C
- Keywords:
-
- Short period comets;
- 1452;
- Astrophysics - Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
- E-Print:
- Accepted for publication in The Planetary Science Journal