Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite Observationsof Water Vapor toward Comet C/1999 H1(Lee)

D. A. Neufeld; J. R. Stauffer; E. A. Bergin; S. C. Kleiner; B. M. Patten; Z. Wang; M. L. N. Ashby; G. Chin; N. R. Erickson; P. F. Goldsmith; M. Harwit; J. E. Howe; D. G. Koch; R. Plume; R. Schieder; R. L. Snell; V. Tolls; G. Winnewisser; Y. F. Zhang; G. J. Melnick

doi:10.1086/312851

Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite Observations of Water Vapor toward Comet C/1999 H1 (Lee)

D. A. Neufeld¹, J. R. Stauffer², E. A. Bergin², S. C. Kleiner², B. M. Patten², Z. Wang², M. L. N. Ashby², G. Chin³, N. R. Erickson⁴, P. F. Goldsmith⁵, M. Harwit⁶, J. E. Howe⁴, D. G. Koch⁷, R. Plume², R. Schieder⁸, R. L. Snell⁴, V. Tolls², G. Winnewisser⁸, Y. F. Zhang², and G. J. Melnick²

Published 2000 August 16 • © 2000. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved. Printed in U.S.A.
The Astrophysical Journal, Volume 539, Number 2 Citation D. A. Neufeld et al 2000 ApJ 539 L151 DOI 10.1086/312851

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Author affiliations

¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218

² Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138

³ NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771

⁴ Department of Astronomy, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003

⁵ National Astronomy and Ionosphere Center, Department of Astronomy, Cornell University, Space Sciences Building, Ithaca, NY 14853-6801

⁶ 511 H Street SW, Washington, DC 20024-2725; also Cornell University

⁷ NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035

⁸ I. Physikalisches Institut, Universität zu Köln, Zülpicher Strasse 77, D-50937 Köln, Germany

Dates

Received 1999 August 16
Accepted 2000 June 23
Published 2000 August 16

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Abstract

We have detected the 1₁₀-1₀₁ pure rotational transition of water vapor toward comet C/1999 H1 using the Submillimeter Wave Astronomy Satellite. Over the period 1999 May 19.01-23.69 UT, the average integrated antenna temperature was 1.79 ± 0.03 K km s^-1 within a 3 farcm 3 × 4 farcm 5 (FWHM) elliptical beam. For an assumed ortho-to-para ratio of 3, we estimate the total water production rate as 8 × 10²⁸ s^-1. This value lies approximately 50% above the value estimated by Biver et al. from contemporaneous radio observations of hydroxyl molecules. The observed line width of 1.8 km s^-1 (FWHM) is broader than the instrumental profile and suggests an intrinsic line width of about 1.4 km s^-1 (FWHM). The data, taken during a portion of every 97 minute spacecraft orbit over a 4.68 day period, provide no evidence for variability.

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