Article ID Journal Published Year Pages File Type
1775259 Icarus 2007 11 Pages PDF
Abstract
We report high-spectral resolution observations of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 before, during and after the impact on 4 July 2005 UT of the Deep Impact spacecraft with the comet. These observations were obtained with the HIRES instrument on Keck 1. We observed brightening of both the dust and gas, but at different rates. We report the behavior of OH, NH, CN, C3, CH, NH2 and C2 gas. From our observations, we determined a CN outflow velocity of at least 0.51 km s−1. The dust color did not change substantially. To date, we see no new species in our spectra, nor do we see any evidence of prompt emission. From our observations, the interior material released by the impact looks the same as the material released from the surface by ambient cometary activity. However, further processing of the data may uncover subtle differences in the material that is released as well as the time evolution of this material.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering Earth and Planetary Sciences Space and Planetary Science
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