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The experiment is described for airborne observations of Comet Kohoutek using an infrared tilting-filter photometer. Preliminary analysis of the data established an upper limit to the Comet's fluorescence radiation in methane lines at 3.3 microns.
Radio, optical, and visual observations were made of Comet Kohoutek (1973f) using facilities of the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) and of the Hawaii Night Sky Observatory, State University of New York at Albany (SUNYA). Transit observations were made using the NRAO 300 ft radio telescope on six consecutive days beginning November 24, 1973. Observations were carried out in the continuum at 11 cm using the 4-feed system at different position angles. The data were recorded on magnetic tape and were computer reduced. Results were negative, with an rms error of 62 milli flux units, giving an upper limit of 180 mfu for the 11 cm continuum emission from the Comet. This relatively high detection limit resulted from a combination of interference and bad weather that affected these pre-perihelion observations. No observations could be scheduled near or after perihelion.
An analysis was conducted of the space mission to intercept the comet Encke. The two basic types of flight geometry considered for the mission are described. The primary interactions between time-of-flight and performance characteristics are displayed. The representative spacecraft characteristics for the Titan 3/Centaur launch vehicle are tabulated. The navigation analyses for the two missions are developed to show: (1) assessment of the navigation feasibility of the missions, (2) determination of the total velocity budget for the trim maneuvers, and (3) evaluation of dispersions at comet encounter.
Photoelectric spectrophotometric- and image tube equipped spectrographic-studies on comets are used to formulate a new model for the cometary nucleus that is physically similar to the icy-conglomerate. Absolute flux distributions of the principal spectral features for five comets of different compositions and heliocentric distances were evaluated. Comparison of visible and infrared brightnesses was used to calculate the optical albedos of observed particles.
Observations of the solar wind and the comet Bennett made during the period from Mar. 23 to Apr. 5, 1970 are considered. During this period the position of the comet had been comparatively close to earth at a distance of about 0.7 AU. Plasma data from four space probes and photographs of a number of observatories are taken into account. The relation between a sudden change in the velocity of the solar wind and the occurrence of a pronounced disturbance in the cometary tail is investigated.
The spectral identification of CH3CN and HCN provides the first support for the hypothesis first proposed by Wurm (1943), of chemically stable 'parent molecules' for the less stable radicals and ions seen in the coma and the tail. These two molecules were among the earliest discovered in dense interstellar clouds. Circumstantial evidence for the presence of water as the dominant volatile component in the nucleus has been growing for some time. However, a much more volatile species is required to explain the observed behavior of the comet. CO, formaldehyde, or methane would quickly evaporate as the comet approached the sun.
The feasibility was investigated of obtaining optical images of a cometary nucleus via a flyby of Comet Encke. A physical model of the dust cloud surrounding the nucleus was developed by using available physical data and theoretical knowledge of cometary physics. Using this model and a Mie scattering code, calculations were made of the absolute surface brightness of the dust in the line of sight of the on-board camera and the relative surface brightness of the dust compared to the nucleus. The brightness was calculated as a function of heliocentric distance and for different phase angles (sun-comet-spacecraft angle).
Several unmanned multiple-target mission opportunities to comets and asteroids were studied. The targets investigated include Grigg-Skjellerup, Giacobini-Zinner, Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresak, Borrelly, Halley, Schaumasse, Geographos, Eros, Icarus, and Toro, and the trajectories consist of purely ballistic flight, except that powered swingbys and deep space burns are employed when necessary. Optimum solar electric rendezvous trajectories to the comets Giacobini-Zinner/85, Borrelly/87, and Temple (2)/83 and /88 employing the 8.67 kw Sert III spacecraft modified for interplanetary flight were also investigated. The problem of optimizing electric propulsion heliocentric trajectories, including the effects of geocentric launch asymptote declination on launch vehicle performance capability, was formulated, and a solution developed using variational calculus techniques. Improvements were made to the HILTOP trajectory optimization computer program. An error analysis of high-thrust maneuvers involving spin-stabilized spacecraft was developed and applied to a synchronous meteorological satellite mission.
A terminal guidance and navigation scheme developed in earlier work was modified and evaluated for a solar electric propulsion rendezvous mission to comet Encke. The scheme is intended for autonomous, on-board use. The guidance algorithm is based on optimal control theory and minimizes the time integrated square of thrust acceleration. The navigation algorithm employs a modified Kalman filter set in measurement variables. Random sequences were generated to simulate measurement errors, and the evaluation was conducted with detailed numerical computations which include actual motions of spacecraft and comet. The evaluations showed that the scheme attains rendezvous and maintains station after rendezvous within less than 10 km for estimated best measurements and within less than 100 km for estimated worst measurements. The measurements required are angles, range, and range rate. Angles and range appear to be absolutely necessary; range rate is not as strong a measurement type, and further modifications of the filter will allow a scheme that does not require the rate measurements.
Fabry-Perot interferometry of Comet Kohoutek (1973f) at 1.1 microns with a resolution of 1.2 A showed emission features identified as OH and CN lines in addition to a strong Fraunhofer continuum. Central intensities have been derived for three cases (uniform, Gaussian, and Gaussian plus inverse-rho law) of brightness profiles in the comet coma. Limits for CH4, H2O, HeI, SiI and CrI are also derived.
It has been suggested by Cameron (1973) that a cloud of comets containing a mass of condensable elements, comparable to the mass of such elements in the sun, formed on the outskirts of the solar system. If the formation of such comet clouds is a general feature of star formation, they constitute a significant sink of elements heavier than helium. It is shown here that this process provides a possible explanation for the very slow rate at which the mean metal abundance of disk stars has increased during the lifetime of the Galaxy.
Imaging for navigation and science has been studied for a 1980 Encke flyby at 0.4 to 0.8 AU from the sun with spinning and three-axis spacecraft. Trajectory errors, maneuvers, encounter geometry, imaging performance, and data transmission were considered. Onboard comet sightings are needed for navigation. Recommended for a three-axis spacecraft are two vidicon cameras and a nucleus sensor for closed-loop pointing control. The cameras are essentially the Mariner 9 and Mariner 10 instruments; the nucleus sensor is an updated version of a sensor flown on Mariners 6 and 7. For a spinning spacecraft, a framing camera using a charge-coupled device and a spin-scan photometer are proposed. The framing camera would be a new design; it would not be despun, but the spin axis should point along the comet-centered velocity vector. The photometer is essentially that flown on Pioneer 10 and 11.-
An earlier reported shadow of the head of Comet Kohoutek (1973f) was not found in later photographs of the comet. However, linear dark areas were seen and are described as the space between the plasma and the dust tails. The discrepancy in earlier observations is attributed to low resolution in them. Observation of a shadow is also discounted in terms of cometary physics, due to low dust content and the weakness and curvature of the dust tail.
A preliminary summary is presented for the types of data obtained on possible interactions between Comet Kohoutek and the solar wind. The data include Pioneer 8 solar wind density measurements along a line of sight through or near the comet's position; Pioneer 6 plasma measurements near the projected position of the ion tail 100 million km from the nucleus; Lyman-alpha observations of the cometary hydrogen cloud from Skylab and Mariner 10; and ground-based radio, spectroscopic, and photographic observations. Preliminary analysis of some data is provided.
The properties of cometary dust-swarms in almost parabolic long-period orbits are examined. The effect of passage of the solar system through interstellar gas clouds is shown to be capable of affecting substantially the angular momentum of a comet about the sun, thus accounting for the existence of comets with high values of perihelion distance. The same process would enable cometary particles to adsorb interstellar gases and regenerate their gas content.
Properties are studied of the icy grain model for the tails of comets Baade 1955 VI and Haro-Chavira 1956 I, which have large perihelion distances. The general profiles and orientations of the tails are compared with a set of synchrones, or theoretical trajectories of particles ejected from a cometary nucleus at given instants of time. Several features observed in these comets are shown to be explained by the icy grain model, including jet activity in the coma and no appreciable broadening of the tail with increasing distance from the nucleus. It is demonstrated that the transition region between 2 and 3 AU, where water snow begins to experience rapid evaporation, has a significant effect on the dynamics of icy tails. It is suggested that the icy grains constituting these cometary tails may carry fine particles of meteoric dust which are released when the grains begin to disintegrate by evaporation.
Comet Kohoutek was observed with the 50 cm (f/15) reflecting telescope of the European Southern Observatory, La Silla, Chile, on fourteen nights between January 16 and 30, when the heliocentric and geocentric distances of the comet were r=0.66 - 1.00 A.U. and delta=0.81 - 0.96 A.U., respectively. The 40 inch and 80 inch diaphragms were used for the photometry of the cometary head in the UBV system and with six interference filters. The atmospheric conditions were good but the accuracy of observations was low due to large extinction and twilight. The mean error of one measurement of log F in all but Na 5893 A filters can be estimated at plus or minus 0.02, whereas the accuracy through the Na filter was substantially lower.
Photometric observations of the coma of comet Kohoutek were made at the Cassegrain focus of a 36-inch telescope. The observations consisted of one wide (visual, 5454 A) and six narrow (CN, 3879 A; C3, 4057 A; C2, 4732 A, 5165 A, 5634 A; continuum, 5200 A) band interference filters. In addition each filter was used with six diaphragms. Good quality data were obtained on 13 days between November 1973 and February 1974. A small flare was observed on 1 December for all filters, a CN flare on 13 January, and a visual flare on 28 January. The data were reduced to absolute narrow band magnitudes of the comet for the 13 days. The radial dependence of the surface brightness was derived from the set of diaphragms and future work will be directed toward using these results for modeling density distributions for the coma.