Doubly Ionized Carbon Observed in the Plasma Tail of Comet Kudo-Fujikawa
Matthew S. Povich,1*
John C. Raymond,1
Geraint H. Jones,2
Michael Uzzo,1
Yuan-Kuen Ko,1
Paul D. Feldman,3
Peter L. Smith,1
Brian G. Marsden,1
Thomas N. Woods4
Comet C/2002 X5 (Kudo-Fujikawa) was observed near its perihelion of 0.19 astronomical unit by the Ultraviolet Coronagraph Spectrometer aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory spacecraft. Images of the comet reconstructed from high-resolution spectra reveal a quasi-spherical cloud of neutral hydrogen and a variable tail of C+ and C2+ that disconnects from the comet and subsequently regenerates. The high abundance of C2+ and C+, at least 24% relative to water, cannot be explained by photodissociation of carbon monoxide and is instead attributed to the evaporation and subsequent photoionization of atomic carbon from organic refractory compounds present in the cometary dust grains.This result serves to strengthen the connection between comets and the material from which the Solar System formed.
1 Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 60 Garden Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA.
2 Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
3 Department of Physics and Astronomy, Johns Hopkins University, 3400 North Charles Street, Baltimore, MD 21218–2686, USA.
4 University of Colorado, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, 1234 Innovation Drive, Boulder, CO 80303, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: mpovich{at}cfa.harvard.edu
