Abstract
Observations of H$alpha$, H$sub 2$O$sup +$, and O i emission lines from comet Kohoutek were made during a 2-month period around perihelion. Analyses of H$alpha$ line profiles and line intensities indicate that the mean outflow velocity of the hydrogen atoms was 7.8plus-or-minus0.2 km s$sup -1$ and that the hydrogen atom production rate typically varied from about 0.4times10$sup 29$ s$sup -1$ to about 1.4times10$sup 29$ s$sup -1$ for comet-Sun distances between 1 AU and 0.4 AU, respectively. The identification of an H$sub 2$O$sup +$ emission feature in certain H$alpha$ scans indicates that the H$sub 2$O$sup +$ ions were moving in a tailward direction with a velocity of 20 to 40 km s$sup -1$ with respect to the comet nucleus. An upper limit of 1 part in 100 was found for the D/H ratio in the cometary atomic hydrogen cloud. (AIP)
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