Yana L. Radeva

Calibration of the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer Proportional Counter Array

We present the calibration and background model for the Proportional Counter Array on board the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer. The energy calibration is systematics-limited below 10 keV, with deviations from a power-law fit to the Crab Nebula plus pulsar of less than 1%. Unmodeled variations in the instrumental background amount to less than 2% of the observed background below 10 keV and less than 1% between 10 and 20 keV. Individual photon arrival times are accurate to 4.4 μs at all times during the mission and to 2.5 μs after 1997 April 29. The peak pointing direction of the five collimators is known to a precision of a few arcseconds.

CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF COMET C/2007 N3 (LULIN): ANOTHER ‘‘ATYPICAL’’ COMET

We measured the volatile chemical composition of comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin) on three dates from 2009 January 30 to February 1 using NIRSPEC, the high-resolution (λ/Δλ ≈ 25,000), long-slit echelle spectrograph at Keck 2. We sampled nine primary (parent) volatile species (H2O, C2H6 ,C H 3OH, H2CO, CH4 ,H CN, C 2H2, NH3, CO) and two product species (OH ∗ and NH2). We also report upper limits for HDO and CH3D. C/2007 N3 (Lulin) displayed an unusual composition when compared to other comets. Based on comets measured to date, CH4 and C2H6 exhibited “normal” abundances relative to water, CO and HCN were only moderately depleted, C2H2 and H2CO were more severely depleted, and CH3OH was significantly enriched. Comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin) is another important and unusual addition to the growing population of comets with measured parent volatile compositions, illustrating that these studies have not yet reached the level where new observations simply add another sample to a population with well-established statistics.

The Peculiar Volatile Composition of Comet 8P/Tuttle: A Contact Binary of Chemically Distinct Cometesimals?*

We report measurements of eight native (i.e., released directly from the comet nucleus) volatiles (H2O, HCN, CH4, C2H2, C2H6, CO, H2CO, and CH3OH) in comet 8P/Tuttle using NIRSPEC at Keck 2. Comet Tuttle reveals a truly unusual composition, distinct from that of any comet observed to date at infrared wavelengths. The prominent enrichment of methanol relative to water contrasts with the depletions of other molecules, especially C2H2, HCN, and H2CO. We suggest that the nucleus of 8P/Tuttle may contain two cometesimals characterized by distinct volatile composition. The relative abundances C2/CN, C2/OH, and CN/OH in 8P/Tuttle (measured at optical/near-UV wavelengths) differ substantially from the mixing ratios of their potential parents (C2H2/HCN, C2H2/H2O, and HCN/H2O) found in this work. Based on this comparison, our results do not support C2H2 and HCN being the principal precursors for respectively C2 and CN in Tuttle. The peculiar native composition observed in 8P/Tuttle (compared to other comets) provides new strong evidence for chemical diversity in the volatile materials stored in comet nuclei. We discuss the implications of this diversity for expected variations in the deuterium enrichment of water among comets.

High-resolution infrared spectroscopic measurements of Comet 2P/Encke: Unusual organic composition and low rotational temperatures

Comets are classified from their orbital characteristics into two separate classes: nearly-isotropic, mainly long-period comets and ecliptic, short-period comets. Members from the former class are coming from the Oort cloud. Those of the latter class were first believed to have migrated from the Kuiper belt where they could have been accreted in situ, but recent orbital evolution simulations showed that they rather come from the trans-Neptunian scattered disc. These two reservoirs are not where the comets formed: they were expelled from the inner Solar System following interaction with the giant planets. If comets formed at different places in the Solar System, one would expect they show different chemical and physical properties. In the present paper, I review which differences are effectively observed: chemical and isotopic compositions, spin temperatures, dust particle properties, nucleus properties ... and investigate whether these differences are correlated with the different dynamical classes. The difficulty of such a study is that long-period, nearly-isotropic comets from the Oort cloud are better known, from Earth-based observations, than the weak nearly-isotropic, short-period comets. On the other hand, only the latter are easily accessed by space missions. There are not two comets alike. These objects show an extraordinary diversity (Fig. 1.1). Besides the multiplicity of their appearance, the diversity of comets is twofold: • diversity of orbits, from which different dynamical classes of comets have 1

A NEWLY DEVELOPED FLUORESCENCE MODEL FOR C2H6 ν5 AND APPLICATION TO COMETARY SPECTRA ACQUIRED WITH NIRSPEC AT KECK II

Accurate rotational temperatures are essential for extracting production rates for parent volatiles in comets. Two strong bands of ethane (?7 at 2985.39?cm?1 and ?5 at 2895.67?cm?1) are seen in infrared cometary spectra, but the Q-branches of ?7 are not resolved by current instruments and cannot provide an accurate rotational temperature with current models. We developed a fluorescence model for the C2H6 ?5 band that can be used to derive a rotational temperature. We applied our C2H6 ?5 model to high-resolution infrared spectra of the comets C/2004 Q2 Machholz and C/2000 WM1 (LINEAR), acquired with the Near-infrared Echelle Spectrograph on the Keck II telescope. We demonstrate agreement among the rotational temperatures derived from C2H6 ?5 and other species, and between mixing ratios derived from C2H6 ?5 and C2H6 ?7. As a symmetric hydrocarbon, C2H6 is observed only in the infrared, and it is now the fifth molecule (along with H2O, HCN, CO, and H2CO) for which we can derive a reliable rotational temperature from cometary infrared spectra.