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Amber M. Anders
University of Missouri- St. Louis Dept. of Physics and Astronomy
Advisor: E.L. Gibb, PhD
Abstract
In this research project, we investigated methane abundances in comets C/2002 T7 and C/2001 Q4 using high-dispersion infrared spectra acquired with CSHELL at NASA’s Infrared Telescope Facility. We detected the lines R0, R1, R2, and P2 of the v3 vibrational band of methane in the comets. The data acquired from CSHELL was dark subtracted and flat fielded, cleaned for hot pixels and cosmic ray hits, and straightened with a series of computer programs. Using a spectrum extracted from the data and an assumed rotational temperature of 75K, methane production rates for these two comets were determined. The mean Q (2-5) is the average production rate or the amount of methane being ejected 2-5 arcsec away from the nucleus of the comet. The mean Q (2-5) found for C/2002 T7 from May 29 to June 2, 2004 was found to be 1.357 • 1027 molecules s-1 and for C/2001 Q4 an average of 1.726• 1027 molecules s-1. Also from the data, the rotational temperature was determined to be in the 70-80K range for both comets.
Amber Anders resides in St. Louis, Missouri and is currently a senior at Saint Joseph’s Academy. Amber will be attending Washington University in the fall and will major in physics. She studied astrophysics at the University of Missouri-St. Louis under the direction of Dr. Gibb and desires to become an astrophysicist, and eventually one-day work for NASA again. Amber is intrigued by study of space and aspires to do research and make profound contributions to the scientific world.
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