The parent volatile composition of 6P/d'arrest and a chemical comparison of jupiter-family comets measured at infrared wavelengths

Abstract

The volatile abundances in Jupiter-family comet (JFC) 6P/d'Arrest were measured on two dates (UT 2008 July 28 and August 11) using high-dispersion (λ/Δλ 2.8 × 104) infrared spectroscopy with NIRSPEC at the W. M. Keck Observatory. H2O, CH3OH, and C2H6 were detected on both dates and H2CO and NH3 were detected on UT August 11. A tentative detection of HCN and an upper limit for C2H2 are also reported on UT August 11. CH3OH, H2CO, and NH3 abundances relative to H2O are in the typical range, while C2H6, C2H2, and HCN are all moderately to severely depleted compared to other comets. Gas production increased by about a factor of 2 from July 28 to August 11. Relative abundances of C2H6 and CH3OH with respect to H2O are consistent on these dates within the limitations of the measurements. Rotational temperatures were determined for H2O on UT August 11 and found to be about 40 K. The spatial distributions of H2O and C2H6 are both asymmetric with peak flux about 100 km in the anti-sunward direction compared to the more symmetric dust distribution. A comparison between the abundances of daughter fragments (e.g., C2, CN, NH, and NH2) and their suspected parents (e.g., C2H2, C2H6, HCN, and NH3) shows that while the abundance of NH3 in 6P is consistent with it being the primary source of NH and NH2, there is insufficient C2H2, C2H6, and HCN to account for C2 and CN in 6P. This is in contrast to other measured JFCs where abundances of C2 and CN are consistent with C 2H2, C2H6, and HCN as their primary parents to within the accuracy of the measurements. Thus, optical taxonomic classifications of comets may not correlate well to taxonomic classifications based on parent volatile chemistry in some cases. © 2009. The American Astronomical Society. All rights reserved.