observationsofcurrentandpast
Beatrice Mueller
NASA Planetary Astronomy
Observations of Current and Past NASA Cometary Mission Targets
We will carry out ground-based optical observations of current and past NASA mission targets, Comets 103P/Hartley 2, 9P/Tempel 1, 81P/Wild 2, and 2P/Encke.
We will observe comet Hartley 2 before, during, and after its encounter with the EPOXI mission to obtain coma morphologies of gas species (e.g., CN, C2, and C3) and dust. These will be used to characterize its nuclear activity and to determine its nuclear parameters.
The emphasis for comets Tempel 1 and Encke will be on rotational evolution studies following-up on our previous observations of these comets.
Comet Wild 2 will have its closest perigee passage in April 2010 since its discovery in 1978. This is therefore the best opportunity to observe the coma morphology of this comet from the ground.
This research will contribute new observational data for current and past NASA spacecraft target comets which will put the encounter observations of comets Hartley 2, Tempel 1, and Wild 2 into a broader context. The observations of comet Encke will allow a detailed characterization of its spin state.
This research is relevant to NASA objectives, and in particular to the NASA strategic goal 3 and subgoal 3C. The proposed research is also relevant to the NASA Planetary Astronomy Program and will provide context observations for NASA cometary missions, including ground-based observations around the encounter of comet
Hartley 2 by the EPOXI mission.
We will observe comet Hartley 2 before, during, and after its encounter with the EPOXI mission to obtain coma morphologies of gas species (e.g., CN, C2, and C3) and dust. These will be used to characterize its nuclear activity and to determine its nuclear parameters.
The emphasis for comets Tempel 1 and Encke will be on rotational evolution studies following-up on our previous observations of these comets.
Comet Wild 2 will have its closest perigee passage in April 2010 since its discovery in 1978. This is therefore the best opportunity to observe the coma morphology of this comet from the ground.
This research will contribute new observational data for current and past NASA spacecraft target comets which will put the encounter observations of comets Hartley 2, Tempel 1, and Wild 2 into a broader context. The observations of comet Encke will allow a detailed characterization of its spin state.
This research is relevant to NASA objectives, and in particular to the NASA strategic goal 3 and subgoal 3C. The proposed research is also relevant to the NASA Planetary Astronomy Program and will provide context observations for NASA cometary missions, including ground-based observations around the encounter of comet
Hartley 2 by the EPOXI mission.
