Brightness profiles of C3 and NH3 in the atmosphere of P/Brorsen-Metcalf

✍ Scribed by P. P. Korsun

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1995
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 483 KB
• Volume: 316
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0004-6337
• DOI: 10.1002/asna.2103160413

✦ Synopsis

Spectroscopic observations of Comet P/Brorsen-Metcalf were made on August 9-13, 1989. Spatial profiles extracted from long-slit spectra were analyzed to determine the lifetimes of C3 and NH2 radicals and their parents, as well as the tailward acceleration of these radicals. In our investigations we used a Monte Carlo model. The average lifetime for C3 has been found to be 6.3 x 1 0 ' s and that for the parent of C3 to 6 x lo3 s. The spatial profiles of C3 were almost symmetric and we need only 0.1 cms-2 as the tailward acceleration. According to our simulations, C3H4 (allene) can be considered as the parent for C3. We obtained the average value 7.6 x lo' s for the lifetime of NH2 and 1.1 x lo' s for the lifetime of the NH2 parent. The tailward acceleration of NH2 was not more than 0.1 ems-'. This result does not exceed the latest theoretical calculations of NH2 and NHs lifetimes by a factor of 1.4. So, NH3 may be considered as a parent for NH2 in the atmosphere of P/Brorsen-Metcalf.