Publication Date:
2011-08-19
Description:
A search for the 4(14)-3(21) orthorotational transition of H2O near 380 GHz was conducted in the coma of Comet P/Halley on May 6, 1986 using a heterodyne receiver and a high resolution spectrometer on the NASA Kuiper Airborne Observatory (KAO). A measured upper limit flux density in a 2 MHz bandwidh was obtained. Model calculations, including both collisions and infrared vibrational excitation by the solar radiation flux, show that this upper limit corresponds to an upper limit on the water production rate of 1.5 x 10 to the 30th water molecules per second for an isothermal coma at 200 K and 1.5 x 10 to the 31st/s for a more realistic model of the coma.
Keywords:
ASTROPHYSICS
Type:
Astronomy and Astrophysics (ISSN 0004-6361); 213; 1-2,
Format:
text
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