The following document lists the file abstract/DBOCKELE_COMET_CC.abs
from catalogue VI/111.
A plain copy of the file
(without headers/trailers) may be downloaded.
Comets are believed to retain most of the original content of the pristine Solar Nebula. Therefore, their study provides a unique way to understand the history of our Solar System and its relation to the interstellar medium. We propose to complement the Central Program study of periodic comet P/Kopff by observing at high resolution with the SWS the 3.20 to 3.65 mu and 5.80 to 7.00 mu regions. The primary goal of this proposal is to investigate the nature of the carbonaceous components present in cometary atmospheres. Comets have a strong emission in the 3.20-3.65 mu domain. Part of it is attributed to methanol, but the remaining signal is still unidentified. A spectrum of the 3.20-3.65 mu region free of any telluric absorption will help resolving this problem. The 5.80-7.00 mu region has never been observed in comets at high resolution (a low resolution spectrum of P/Halley revealed an unidentified feature at 6.8 mu). This region potentially contains the signals of hydrocarbons, aromatics, and CHO species. Its observation will directly complement that of the 3.20-3.65 mu and allow to identify cometary carbonaceous compounds. In addition, this region contains the strong nu2 band of water, whose study at high resolution will usefully complement the observations of cometary water of the Central Program.