[43.15] Submillimeter Molecular Line Observations of 9P/Tempel 1

37th DPS Meeting, 4-9 September 2005
Session 43 Deep Impact A
Poster, Wednesday, September 7, 2005, 6:00-7:15pm, Music Foyer

[Previous] | [Session 43] | [Next]

[43.15] Submillimeter Molecular Line Observations of 9P/Tempel 1 - The Deep Impact Experiment -

R. Schulz (ESA/RSSD), H. M. Butner (JAC), S. B. Charnley (NASA Ames), I. M. Coulson (JAC), Y. R. Fernandez, K. J. Meech (IFA), G. H. Moriarty-Schieven (JAC), S. D. Rodgers (NASA Ames), J. A. Stuewe (Leiden Univ.), L. M. Woodney (Univ. Central Florida)

Using the James Clerk Maxwell telescope on Mauna Kea, we monitored the abundances of a number of molecules before, during, and after the Deep Impact interception of comet 9P/Tempel 1 on July 4th. The observations were done at submillimeter wavelengths over the course of two months. The key goal of our observations was to test cometary chemistry models. Pre-impact observations defined baseline production rates for HCN, CO, CS among others. During impact and in the immediate aftermath, we focused our observations on several key molecular species. In more extended observing in the weeks after impact, we measured the production rates for a number of molecules, including isotopomers when the main species were abundant enough. Here we report our initial results.

[Previous] | [Session 43] | [Next]