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[43.03] Water production and release in comet 9P/Tempel 1

N. Dello Russo (JHU-APL), M. A. DiSanti, M. J. Mumma (NASA/GSFC), B. P. Bonev (U. Toledo - GSFC), K. Magee-Sauer (Rowan U.), E. L. Gibb (Notre Dame U.), G. L. Villanueva (NAS-NRC), H. Kawakita (Kyoto Sangyo U.), S. Sugita (U. Tokyo), J. Lyke (W. M. Keck Obs.)

Targeting water hot-band emission near 2.9 microns with state-of-the-art infrared spectrometers and telescopes has enabled the characterization of H₂O production rates, rotational temperatures, and ortho-to-para ratios in fainter comets. H₂O is the dominant cometary volatile so determining its production rate gives an estimate of the total volatile abundance and provides a basis of comparison for the abundance of other volatile species. High-resolution infrared observations of comet 9P/Tempel 1, the target of the Deep Impact mission, offer an excellent opportunity to monitor the change in the bulk volatile production and chemistry pre- to post-impact. H₂O has been detected pre-impact in Tempel 1 (UT June 2, 2005), and observations are planned for the night of impact and after impact. Here we report results on water production and release in Tempel 1 and compare with other comets within our database.

This work was supported by the NASA Planetary Atmospheres Program under grant NNG05GA64G.

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