Comet Outburst Target of Opportunity
National Aeronautics and Space Administration Hubble Space Telescope General Observer Program-Cycle 27
Subaward to PSI from Space Telescope Science Institute
PI: Dennis Bodewits (Auburn University)
Non PSI Personnel: Mike Kelley (Co-Investigator, University of Maryland, College Park), Emmanuel Jehin (Co-Investigator, Universite de Liege), Silvia Protopapa (Co-Investigator, Southwest Research Institute), Quanzhi Ye (Co-Investigator, University of Maryland, College Park)
Project Description
We request 6 orbits of observing time to investigate the aftermath of a >1 mag cometary outburst using WFC3/UVIS. The goal of this project is to connect larger cometary outbursts detectable from Earth (>10^6 kg) with smaller outbursts seen by Rosetta and Deep Impact (<10^6 kg) to determine what processes drive them and to evaluate their effect on comet evolution. We will characterize the morphology and amount of the ejected material, use its color to evaluate its ice content, and search for fragments.
Co-I Li has extensive experience with HST cometary observations and will lead the planning and design of our HST observations. He is also responsible for the quick look and quality check of data once observations are executed, and respond to any unexpected events such as problematic or failed observations to ensure the best data taken. He will participate in all parts of the data analysis and publication, providing necessary support related to data acquisition and reduction. Salary support is requested to support his effort at a level of 0.47 months/year.
