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Science 5 September 1997:
Vol. 277. no. 5331, pp. 1488 - 1491
DOI: 10.1126/science.277.5331.1488
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Reports

Detection of Soft X-rays and a Sensitive Search for Noble Gases in Comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1)

Vladimir A. Krasnopolsky, * Michael J. Mumma, Mark Abbott, Brian C. Flynn, Karen J. Meech, Donald K. Yeomans, Paul D. Feldman, Cristiano B. Cosmovici

An image of comet Hale-Bopp (C/1995 O1) in soft x-rays reveals a central emission offset from the nucleus, as well as an extended emission feature that does not correlate with the dust jets seen at optical wavelengths. Neon was found to be depleted in the cometary ice by more than a factor of 25 relative to solar abundance, which suggests that ices in Hale-Bopp formed at (or later experienced) temperatures higher than 25 kelvin. A helium line emission at a wavelength of 584 angstroms was detected and may be attributable to charge transfer of solar wind alpha  particles in the cometary coma. Ionized oxygen and another helium line contribute to an emission observed at 538 angstroms.

V. A. Krasnopolsky, Catholic University of America, Washington, DC 20064, USA, and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
M. J. Mumma, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA.
M. Abbott and B. C. Flynn, Center for Extreme Ultraviolet Astrophysics, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
K. J. Meech, Institute for Astronomy, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
D. K. Yeomans, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
P. D. Feldman, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.
C. B. Cosmovici, Istituto Fisica Spazio Interplanetario, CNR, 00044 Frascati, Italy.
*   To whom correspondence should be addressed (at NASA). E-mail: ys2VK{at}lepvax.gsfc.nasa.gov

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THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Noble Gases in the Solar System.
R. Wieler (2002)
Reviews in Mineralogy and Geochemistry 47, 21-70
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Organic Composition of C/1999 S4 (LINEAR): A Comet Formed Near Jupiter?.
M. J. Mumma, N. Dello Russo, M. A. DiSanti, K. Magee-Sauer, R. E. Novak, S. Brittain, T. Rettig, I. S. McLean, D. C. Reuter, and L.-H. Xu (2001)
Science 292, 1334-1339
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Charge Exchange-Induced X-Ray Emission from Comet C/1999 S4 (LINEAR).
C. M. Lisse, D. J. Christian, K. Dennerl, K. J. Meech, R. Petre, H. A. Weaver, and S. J. Wolk (2001)
Science 292, 1343-1348
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Deuterium in Comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp): Detection of DCN.
R. Meier, T. C. Owen, D. C. Jewitt, H. E. Matthews, M. Senay, N. Biver, D. Bockelée-Morvan, J. Crovisier, and D. Gautier (1998)
Science 279, 1707-1710
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