MSX Multispectral Imagery of Comet Hale-Bopp
D.G. Kupperman, L.J. Paxton, J.F. Carbary, P.J. McEvaddy, D. Morrison, C.-I. Meng (JHU/APL), R.C. Henry (JHU), E.F. Tedesco (MRC), S.D. Price (AFRL)
MSX obtained multispectral images of Comet Hale-Bopp near perihelion
(March 30, 1997) with four imaging telescopes. Two of the imagers have a
13.1deg, x 10.5deg total field of view and the other two cover
1.6deg x 1.3deg fields of view. The comet was mapped in filters covering
the 128-138 nm, 117-127 nm, and 145-180 nm spectral bands bands with a
pixel field of view of 0.89 mrad and 180-300 nm, 200-230 nm, 230-260 nm,
and 305-315 nm bands at 0.11 mrad resolution. These images have been
analyzed using a simple Haser model to map the distribution of OH, CO, C,
H, and O. This preliminary analysis indicates very high gas production
rates.