Creation of the CO+ spectrum for analysis of Halley's Comet spectrum

Abstract

The solar wind-comet interaction, one of the basic processes investigated in the cometary physics, may be judged by the ion's behavior. CO<SUP>+</SUP> is one of the most abundant cometary atmosphere species. A synthetic spectrum of CO<SUP>+</SUP> was created to analyze Halley's comet spectra. The values of some molecular constants were specified in order to improve the accuracy of the computations. It was established that the more appropriate value of the spin- rotational interaction parameter (gamma) for the B<SUP>2</SUP>(Sigma) <SUP>+</SUP> state is 0.0192. The use of different values of (gamma) for the higher vibrational levels (v &gt; 0) of the X and B states didn't help for a more precise result. That's why it is recommended to use the same value (gamma) for all vibrational levels of a given state. The value -122.0 was determined for the spin-orbital interaction parameter A of the A<SUP>2</SUP>(pi) state. The molecular model, needed to create a spectrum which adequately reproduces the total CO<SUP>+</SUP> glow has been specified: v equals 0 divided by 4 for X<SUP>2</SUP>(Sigma) <SUP>+</SUP> state, v equals 0 divided by 6 for A<SUP>2</SUP>(pi) state, v equals 0 divided by 2 for B<SUP>2</SUP>(Sigma) <SUP>+</SUP> state and rotational levels up to N equals 12 for an optimal theoretical spectrum and up to N equals 8 for analysis of Halley's comet spectra registered by the three- channel spectrometer on board the Vega-2.