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[43.12] Spectroscopic observations of comet 9P/Tempel 1 at the WIYN telescope during the Deep Impact encounter

B. E. A. Mueller (PSI), N. H. Samarasinha (NOAO & PSI), H. Campins (Univ. of Central Florida), T. L. Farnham (Univ. of Maryland), A. L. Cochran (Univ. of Texas), Y. R. Fernandez (Univ. of Central Florida), K. J. Meech (IfA, Univ. of Hawaii)

We observed comet 9P/Tempel 1 from UT July 2-6 with the 3.5\,m WIYN telescope on Kitt Peak with DensePak, a multifiber spectrograph. We covered the wavelength range from 360\,nm to 660\,nm at a resolving power of about 1000. DensePak covers about 30 by 45 arcsec on the sky giving us the capability to sample the nucleus and inner coma simultaneously. We monitored the evolution of relative abundances of the observed species prior to, during, and after the impact. Kitt Peak is one of the sites where observations of the comet were feasible during the impact itself. Initial results will be presented at the meeting.

BEAM, NHS, and TLF acknowledge support from the Deep Impact NASA grant NASW-00004 to the University of Maryland. HC acknowledges support from the NASA Planetary Astronomy grant NAG5-10441. KJM acknowledges support provided through the University of Maryland and University of Hawaii subcontract Z667702, which was awarded under prime contract NASW-00004 from NASA.

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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 37 #3
© 2004. The American Astronomical Soceity.