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Marcus Gunnarsson (Uppsala Astronomical Observatory)
The shape of emission lines from molecules in comets contains much information about the structure of the inner coma if the spectral resolution is good enough. A model for cometary outgassing is presented, which makes it possible to determine a steady state outgassing pattern by making a fit to the emission line profile. In particular observations of comet P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 are discussed. This comet is perpetually active through CO outgassing, which has been observed through emission in the submillimeter domain. The outgassing pattern is found to have a strong contrast between the activity on the day- and nightsides of the nucleus. The results improve the confidence in the estimated CO production rate.