Exploration of spectra of comet 81P/Wild 2 observed in March–April 2010

oleh: K. I. Churyumov, V. O. Ponomarenko, V. V. Kleshchonok, O. R. Baransky, N. S. Kovalenko

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: National Aviation University 2012-10-01

Deskripsi

Short period comet 81P/Wild 2 of Jupiter’s comet family was the main target of the space mission “Stardust” in 2005. Seven middle-resolution optical spectra of comet 81P/Wild 2 were obtained on 27–29 March and 2/3 April 2010 with the help of the 2-m Zeiss reflector and echelle-spectrograph of the High-mountain astronomical station of Institute of Astronomy of Russian Academy of Sciences and Main Astronomical Observatory of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine at Peak Terskol. The comet was at heliocentric distance 1.6 A.U. and geocentric one 0.7 A.U. and had the integral magnitude equal to 9.8 mag. We present the energy distribution in the spectra of comet 81P and the identification of the spectral emission lines in these spectra. Presence of luminescent continuum in the spectra of comet 81P is discussed and some physical parameters of luminescent continuum were calculated.