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1.
We report 43 new visible colors of Centaurs and TNOs, obtained at NTT and VLT telescopes under the “ESO large program on physical properties of Centaurs and TNOs.” Merging these new measurements with those obtained during the first part of the program (Boehnhardt et al., 2002, Astron. Astrophys. 395, 297-303) and the “Meudon Multicolor Survey” (Doressoundiram et al., 2002, Astron. J. 124, 2279-2296) we have a unique dataset of 109 objects. We checked for correlations and trends between colors, physical and orbital parameters, carrying out an analysis based on Monte Carlo simulation to account for observational error bars. Centaurs show no evidence for correlation between V−R vs. R−I colors which raises the hypothesis that more than one single coloring process might be acting on their surfaces. Classical objects seem to be composed of two different color populations: objects with i<4.5° display only red colors while those with i>4.5° display the whole range of colors from blue to very red. The possibility that the low inclined population is misguiding global conclusions is analyzed. Classical objects also show a stronger color-perihelion correlation for intrinsically brighter objects, corresponding to critical estimated sizes of different formation/evolutionary histories. Scattered disk objects show color resemblances with the classical objects at i>12°, hence surface reflectivities resemblances, pointing to a common origin. No color-aphelion trend is found for SDOs, as expected from the intense irradiation by galactic cosmic-rays beyond the solar wind termination shock. Plutinos show a color-absolute magnitude trend, in which all the intrinsically faintest objects are blue. We see many red Plutinos in highly inclined and highly eccentric orbits, that should have originated in a primordial inner disk under Gomes (2003, Icarus 161, 404-418) migration scenario. This seems to invalidate the assumption that objects originated in this inner disk are mainly blue. Finally, we also find six candidates for light-curve studies: four objects (1998 WU31, 1999 OE4, 1999 OX3, and 2001 KP77) present significant short term R-magnitude variability, and two objects (1999 XX143 and 2000 GP183) evidence possible color variations with rotation. 相似文献
2.
《Icarus》2003,166(1):195-211
We present optical observations of 24 Centaurs performed between 1998 and 2002 with the University of Hawaii 2.2-m telescope. This is the largest such Centaur survey to date. We report colors for all objects, and show that they cover a continuum with mean V–R color of 0.58±0.01 and standard deviation 0.15. The color distribution fits between those of the Kuiper Belt and the cometary nuclei, and seems consistent with the dynamical concept of the majority of Centaurs originating from the Kuiper Belt. We find no strong correlation between a Centaur's color and its orbital elements; there is at best a <3−σ correlation with semimajor axis, with redder Centaurs being farther from the Sun. We have calculated the phase-darkening slope parameters G for 5 Centaurs, 4 of which are reported for the first time. They range from −0.18 to 0.13. We have sufficient data to constrain the rotation periods of two Centaurs, 1999 UG5 (which we reported earlier) and 1998 SG35. We performed a comparison of the surface brightness profiles of 10 apparently-inactive Centaurs with point sources. We found no coma around these 10 objects, including C/LINEAR (2000 B4), and generally the upper limits to the dust mass loss rates are below 0.05 kg s−1. 相似文献
3.
Transneptunian objects and Centaurs are supposed to be among the most pristine bodies of the Solar System. To investigate their physical properties and their surface composition, an ESO large program at the Very Large Telescope was carried out. In this paper we present photometric and spectroscopic near-infrared data of two Centaurs (1998 SG35 and 2000 QC243) and one transneptunian object (47171 1999 TC36). For 47171 1999 TC36 and 1998 SG35 visible photometry is also presented. Models of the surface composition of these objects are presented and discussed. By including a small percentage of water ice in our geographical mixtures, we obtain a better agreement with the observations in the H and K bands. 相似文献
4.
Moroz L. V. Baratta G. Distefano E. Strazzulla G. Starukhina L. V. Dotto E. Barucci M. A. 《Earth, Moon, and Planets》2003,92(1-4):279-289
Trans-Neptunian Objects (TNOs) and Centaurs show remarkable colour variationsin the visual and near-infrared spectral regions. Surface alteration processes such asspace weathering (e.g., bombardment with ions) and impact resurfacingmay play an important role in the colour diversity of such bodies. Ion irradiation ofhydrocarbon ices and their mixtures with water ice transforms neutral (grey) surfacecolours of ices to red and further to grey. Along with the ices, TNOs and Centaursprobably contain complex carbonaceous compounds, in particular, complexhydrocarbons. Unlike ices, such refractory organic materials have originally lowvisual albedos and red colours in the visible and near-infrared ranges. Here wepresent the first results of ion irradiation experiments on asphaltite. Asphaltite isa natural complex hydrocarbon material. The reflectance spectra of asphaltite inthe 0.4–0.8 μm range have been recorded before irradiation and after eachirradiation step. We demonstrate that irradiation of this red dark material with30 keV H+ and 15 keV N+ ions gradually transforms its colour from redto grey as a result of carbonization. A moderate increase in the visual albedo hasbeen observed. These results may imply that the surfaces of primitive red objectsoptically dominated by complex refractory organics may show a similar spaceweathering trend. Our laboratory results were compared with published coloursof TNOs and Centaurs. A broad variety of spectral colours observed for TNOs andCentaurs may be reproduced by various spectra of irradiated organics correspondingto different ion fluences. However, such objects probably also contain ices and silicatecomponents which show different space weathering trends. This fact, together with alack of information about albedos, may explain difficulties to reveal correlations between surface colours within TNO and Centaur populations and their other properties, such as absolute magnitudes and orbital parameters. 相似文献
5.
Several different trans-neptunian objects have been studied in order to investigate their physical and chemical properties. New observations in the 1.1-1.4 μm range, obtained with the ISAAC instrument, are presented in order to complete previous observations carried out with FORS1 in the visible and SINFONI in the near infrared. All of the observations have been performed at the ESO/Very Large Telescope. We analyze the spectra of six different objects (2003 AZ83, Echeclus, Ixion, 2002 AW197, 1999 DE9 and 2003 FY128) in the 0.45-2.3 μm range with the model of Hapke (Hapke, B. [1981]. J. Geophys. Res. 86, 4571-4586) and the method of Shkuratov et al. (Shkuratov, Y., Starukhina, L., Hoffmann, H., Arnold, G. [1999]. Icarus 137, 235-246). Water ice is found on two objects, and in particular it is confirmed in its amorphous and crystalline states on 2003 AZ84 surface. Upper limits on the water ice content are given for the other four TNOs investigated, confirming previous results (Barkume, K.M., Brown, M.E., Schaller, E.L. [2008]. Astron. J. 135, 55-67; Guilbert, A., Alvarez-Candal, A., Merlin, F., Barucci, M.A., Dumas, C., de Bergh, C., Delsanti, A. [2009]. Icarus 201, 272-283). Whatever the absorption features in the near infrared, all objects but one exhibit a moderate red slope in the visible, as most TNOs and Centaurs. We discuss the implications of the presence of water ice and the probable sources of the red slope. 相似文献
6.
We present optical colors of 72 transneptunian objects (TNOs), and infrared colors of 80 TNOs obtained with the WFPC2 and NICMOS instruments, respectively, on the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). Both optical and infrared colors are available for 32 objects that overlap between the datasets. This dataset adds an especially uniform, consistent and large contribution to the overall sample of colors, particularly in the infrared. The range of our measured colors is consistent with other colors reported in the literature at both optical and infrared wavelengths. We find generally good agreement for objects measured by both us and others; 88.1% have better than 2 sigma agreement. The median absolute magnitude, HV, magnitude of our optical sample is 7.2, modestly smaller (∼0.5 mag) than for previous samples. The median HV in our infrared sample is 6.7. We find no new correlations between color and dynamical properties (semi-major axis, eccentricity, inclination and perihelion). We do find that colors of Classical objects with i < 6° come from a different distribution than either the Resonant or excited populations in the visible at the >99.99% level with a K-S test. The same conclusion is found in the infrared at a slightly lower significance level, 99.72%. Two Haumea collision fragments with strong near infrared ice bands are easily identified with broad HST infrared filters and point to an efficient search strategy for identifying more such objects. We find evidence for variability in (19255) 1999 VK8, 1999 OE4, 2000 CE105, 1998 KG62 and 1998 WX31. 相似文献
7.
The first phase of the Caltech Wide Area Sky Survey occurred from lateNovember 2001 through mid-April 2003. We present preliminary resultsfrom this survey which has detected 28 bright Kuiper Belt Objects(KBOs) and 4 Centaurs, 19 of which were discovered in our surveyincluding Quaoar, the largest KBO, as well as 6 of the 10intrinsically brightest KBOs. We have surveyed 5108 square degrees ofthe sky nearest the invariable plane to a limiting red magnitude of20.7. Correcting for the overabundance of objects near the invariableplane, this represents 27% completeness in terms of KBO numbers.Thus, approximately 100 KBOs and Centaurs brighter than mR = 20.7exist, about 3/4 of which remain undiscovered. The bright KBOs areconsistent with the canonical q=4 size distribution, suggesting thatabout ten 1000 km diameter KBOs and about one 2000 km diameter KBOexist. Additionally, we observe only 3 KBOs with low inclination(i < 7 degrees) with 67% of the sky available to these objectssurveyed. This is in sharp contrast with the known KBOs, of whichabout 60% of the ～ 800 observed objects (as of May 2003) have i< 7 degrees. Although we observe at systematically higher invariableplane latitudes than many deeper KBO surveys, such systematic biasescannot fully explain the lack of low inclination objects, ameasurement which is significant at the > 3 σ level. Thissuggests that the bright KBOs have a fundamentally different maximumsize than the fainter KBOs. A better characterization of the surveylimiting magnitude and a more thorough modeling of observational biaseffects of different classes of KBOs will be made in a future work. 相似文献
8.
We present near-IR (2.2-2.4 μm) reflectance and transmittance spectra of frozen (16 and 77 K) methanol (CH3OH) and water-methanol (1:1) mixtures before and after irradiation with 30 keV He+ and 200 keV H+ ions. Spectra of other simple hydrocarbons (CH4, C2H2, C2H4, C2H6) and CO have also been obtained both to help in the identification of the new molecules formed after ion irradiation of methanol-rich ices, and to get insight into the question of the presence of simple frozen hydrocarbons on the surface of some objects in the outer Solar System. The results confirm what obtained by studies performed in different spectral ranges, namely the ion-induced formation of CO and CH4, and, for the first time, evidence a strong decrease of the intensity of the methanol band at about 2.34 μm in comparison with that at 2.27 μm. The results are discussed in view of their relevance for icy objects in the Solar System (namely comets, Centaurs, and Kuiper belt objects) where CH3OH has been observed or suggested to be present. 相似文献
9.
Due to the distance, faintness, and very recent discovery ofKuiper Belt Objects (KBOs) and Centaurs, very little is knownabout the physical characteristics of these basic buildingblocks of the solar system. New intermediate-band photometryobservations of KBOs and Centaurs suggest that absorption bandsexist in the visible portion of their spectra, which could offerinsights into the surface composition of these objects. 相似文献
10.
Among all the asteroid dynamical groups, Centaurs have the highest fraction of objects moving in retrograde orbits. The distribution in absolute magnitude, H, of known retrograde Centaurs with semi-major axes in the range 6–34 AU exhibits a remarkable trend: 10 % have H<10 mag, the rest have H>12 mag. The largest objects, namely (342842) 2008 YB3, 2011 MM4 and 2013 LU28, move in almost polar, very eccentric paths; their nodal points are currently located near perihelion and aphelion. In the group of retrograde Centaurs, they are obvious outliers both in terms of dynamics and size. Here, we show that these objects are also trapped in retrograde resonances that make them unstable. Asteroid 2013 LU28, the largest, is a candidate transient co-orbital to Uranus and it may be a recent visitor from the trans-Neptunian region. Asteroids 342842 and 2011 MM4 are temporarily submitted to various high-order retrograde resonances with the Jovian planets but 342842 may be ejected towards the trans-Neptunian region within the next few hundred kyr. Asteroid 2011 MM4 is far more stable. Our analysis shows that the large retrograde Centaurs form an heterogeneous group that may include objects from various sources. Asteroid 2011 MM4 could be a visitor from the Oort cloud but an origin in a relatively stable closer reservoir cannot be ruled out. Minor bodies like 2011 MM4 may represent the remnants of the primordial planetesimals and signal the size threshold for catastrophic collisions in the early Solar System. 相似文献
11.
We present observations of the Centaur (32532) 2001 PT13 taken between September 2000 and December 2000. A multi-wavelength lightcurve was assembled from V-, R- and J-band photometry measurements. Analysis of the lightcurve indicates that there are two peaks of slightly different brightness, a rotation period of 0.34741±0.00005 day, and a maximum photometric range of 0.18 mag. We obtained VRJHK colors (V-R=0.50±0.01, V-J=1.69±0.02, V-H=2.19±0.04, and V-K=2.30±0.04) that are consistent with the grey KBO/Centaur population. The V-R color shows no variation as a function of rotational phase; however, we cannot exclude the possibility that rotational variations are present in the R-J color. Assuming a 4% albedo, we estimate that 2001 PT13 has an effective diameter of 90 km and a minimum axial ratio a/b of 1.18. We find no evidence of a coma and place an upper limit of 15 g s−1 on the dust production rate. 相似文献
12.
We present here the latest B−V, V−R, and R−I color measurements obtained with the CFH12K mosaic camera of the 3.6-m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). This work is the latest extension of the Meudon Multicolor Survey (2MS) and extends the total number of Centaurs and trans-neptunian objects (TNOs) in the dataset to 71. With this large and homogeneous dataset, we performed relevant statistical analyses to search for correlations with physical and orbital parameters and interrelations with related populations (cometary nuclei and irregular satellites). With a larger dataset, we confirm the correlations found for the Classical TNOs in our previous survey: some colors are significantly correlated with perihelion distance and inclination. The only exception is with the eccentricity. However, results strongly depend on which objects are considered Classicals, and with a dynamically more restricted definition these correlations are no longer present. We also find that strongly significant trends with orbital parameters are not detected for Centaurs, Plutinos or scattered disk objects (SDOs). We also make for the first time reliable statistical comparison between TNOs and related populations (e.g., Centaurs, irregular satellites, short period comets—i.e., SPCs). We find that (1) the colors of SPCs do not match either their TNO or Centaur precursors, and this suggests that some process modifies the surface of SPCs at entry into the inner Solar System. The only exception concerns colors of SDOs from which we could statistically assess that SPCs and SDOs could be drawn from a same single parent distribution. (2) Not surprisingly, Centaurs are compatible with each of the Edgeworth-Kuiper belt dynamical groups at a highly significant level except with the SDOs. (3) Centaurs' colors still present a strong dichotomy between a neutral/slightly red group (e.g., Chiron) and a very red group (e.g., Pholus). (4) The irregular satellite population is not compatible with any of the Centaur, Plutino or Classical populations; however, the similarity of their color properties with SDOs suggests that both groups can be extracted from the same parent distribution. However, due to the small number of Centaurs and SDOs these conclusions cannot be taken as definitive. 相似文献
13.
W.M. Grundy K.S. Noll M.W. Buie S.D. Benecchi D.C. Stephens H.F. Levison 《Icarus》2009,200(2):627-635
We present Hubble Space Telescope observations of six binary transneptunian systems: 2000 QL251, 2003 TJ58, 2001 XR254, 1999 OJ4, (134860) 2000 OJ67, and 2004 PB108. The mutual orbits of these systems are found to have periods ranging from 22 to 137 days, semimajor axes ranging from 2360 to 10500 km, and eccentricities ranging from 0.09 to 0.55. These orbital parameters enable estimation of system masses ranging from 0.2 to 9.7×1018 kg. For reasonable assumptions of bulk density (0.5 to 2.0 g cm−3), the masses can be combined with visible photometry to constrain sizes and albedos. The resulting albedos are consistent with an emerging picture of the dynamically “Cold” Classical sub-population having relatively high albedos, compared with comparably-sized objects on more dynamically excited orbits. 相似文献
14.
Rita Schulz 《Astronomy and Astrophysics Review》2002,11(1):1-31
Summary. The trans-neptunian objects (TNOs) constitute a new class of solar system object that was discovered only recently to exist
beyond the orbit of Neptune. About 400 trans-neptunian objects have been detected over the past nine years and more than ten
new objects are being discovered every month. All of the TNOs known to date fit into three dynamical classes: the classical, the resonant and the scattered objects. The total mass of the TNOs currently orbiting the Sun is estimated from the observed luminosity distribution to
be of the order of 10–20% of the Earth's mass. However, theoretical investigations of the formation and evolution of the trans-neptunian
belt into its currently observed shape suggest that it was much more massive in the past. The physical characterisation of
TNOs starts to reveal some of the basic properties of these objects, such as size, shape and rotation and provides a first
glance into the diversity of their surfaces. TNOs cover a very diverse range of colours, possibly reflecting different surface
compositions. First evidence for the presence of water ice was found in a spectrum of one TNO while others do not show the
characteristic absorption bands. The TNOs are now regarded as the likely source of some short-period comets. Owing to giant-planet
and collisional perturbations, some TNOs may evolve into Centaurs, i.e. objects orbiting the Sun in the region between Jupiter
and Neptune, which are further perturbed to become Jupiter-family short-period comets. Together with smaller debris generated
by collisional shattering, the TNOs might represent a belt that has evolved from a more massive circumstellar disc into its
present structure.
Received 15 May 2001 / Published online 5 October 2001 相似文献
15.
The Eurybates family is a compact core inside the Menelaus clan, located in the L4 swarm of Jupiter Trojans. Fornasier et al. (Fornasier, S., Dotto, E., Hainaut, O., Marzari, F., Boehnhardt, H., De Luise, F., Barucci, M.A. [2007]. Icarus 190, 622-642) found that this family exhibits a peculiar abundance of spectrally flat objects, similar to Chiron-like Centaurs and C-type main belt asteroids. On the basis of the visible spectra available in literature, Eurybates family’s members seemed to be good candidates for having on their surfaces water/water ice or aqueous altered materials.To improve our knowledge of the surface composition of this peculiar family, we carried out an observational campaign at the Telescopio Nazionale Galileo (TNG), obtaining near-infrared spectra of 7 members. Our data show a surprisingly absence of any spectral feature referable to the presence of water, ices or aqueous altered materials on the surface of the observed objects. Models of the surface composition are attempted, evidencing that amorphous carbon seems to dominate the surface composition of the observed bodies and some amount of silicates (olivine) could be present. 相似文献
16.
John K. Davies Alan W. Harris Stephen D. Wolters Neil McBride Tom H. Kerr 《Icarus》2007,186(1):111-125
We present a number of spectra of Near-Earth Objects taken in the period 1998-2003 with two different instruments (CGS4 and UIST) on the UKIRT telescope. Since observations with CGS4 require multiple spectral fragments to be observed sequentially and then spliced together we assess the reliability of this technique using comparisons between multiple observations of the same object, between observations of the same object with both instruments and with independent spectra of common objects. We conclude that while problems in the spectral splicing can occur, they are usually intuitively obvious and that overall our dataset is sound. The objects for which we present new spectral data are: 1627 Ivar, 4179 Toutatis, 5381 Sekhmet, (5587) 1990 SB, 6489 Golevka, (11405) 1999 CV3, (14402) 1991 DB, 25143 Itokawa, (25330) 1999 KV4, (52760) 1998 ML14, (66391) 1999 KW4, and (101955) 1999 RQ36. Our results, together with albedo data from the literature, suggest carbonaceous compositions for 25330 and 101955. The available data for 14402 suggest it may belong to the relatively rare M class. Our analysis suggests an S or Sq classification for 52760 and a V classification for 5381 Sekhmet. For all remaining objects the UKIRT data are consistent with published spectral classifications. We find that only 3 of the 12 objects are not S/Q/V-class, which is roughly consistent with the results of Binzel et al. [Binzel, R.P., Rivkin, A.S., Stuart, J.S., Harris, A.W., Bus, S.J., Burbine, T.H., 2004. Icarus 170, 259-294]. Four spectra of Toutatis taken over a range of solar phase angles between 0.7°-81° and at intervals of several weeks are indistinguishable within the uncertainties and therefore do not reveal any evidence for phase reddening or surface variegation. 相似文献
17.
This project examines the different approaches which deal with the theory of radiative transfer on atmosphereless bodies. We present the relative merits of two scattering theories based on the equivalent slab model: the extensively used Hapke theory (Hapke 1981, J. Geophys. Res.86, 3039-3054) and the Shkuratov theory (Shkuratov et al. 1999, Icarus141, 132-155). We found that their main difference is the role of the phase function of individual particles of regolith, which is predicted (and generally forward directed) in the case of the Shkuratov model instead of being a free parameter as formulated in the Hapke model. We also emphasize that different assumptions as to the manner in which different constituents are physically mixed in either model have a substantial effect on the synthetic spectra inferred. This leads to a significant extension of the validity of Hapke's or similar practical approaches to areas where these approaches are valid.We used two objects (the Centaurs 5145 Pholus and 8405 Asbolus) as examples. Previous modeling of the spectra of these two bodies with the Hapke approach gave suspect results in terms of the derived grain sizes, which were smaller than the wavelength, violating key assumptions of the model (Cruikshank et al. 1998, Icarus135, 389-407 for Pholus; Barucci et al. 2000, Astron. Astrophys.357, L53-56 for Asbolus). We considered several different types of powdered surfaces to interpret the surface composition of these two Centaurs. The effect of fine-scale contamination of water ice grains by small amounts of carbon and/or tholins is also explored. We can explain the strong red color and the rich near-infrared spectral signatures of Pholus using a five-component surface (contaminated water ice, amorphous carbon, Titan tholin, olivine, and methanol ice) where the grain sizes are consistent with the model assumptions. These components are similar to those inferred by Cruikshank et al. (1998), but we obtain very different grain sizes and relative abundances. For example, we obtain a relative abundance of water ice on the surface of Pholus of about 40% instead of 6% found with the Hapke model. Organic and carbonaceous components change by similar amounts. In the case of Asbolus, a tholin and amorphous carbon areal mixture can reproduce the spectrum, with water remaining at 9% or less. Using the albedo published by Fernandez et al. (2002, Astron. J.123, 1050-1055) which is higher than most workers assume for Centaurs and Kuiper belt objects, a surface composition similar to that of Pholus is found. It appears that model-based uncertainties in relative compositions must be regarded with more attention. 相似文献
18.
A Large Program (LP) has been carried out at ESO-VLT using almost simultaneously the UT1, UT2 and UT4 telescopes (Cerro Paranal, Chile). The aim of this Large Program was to obtain simultaneous visible and near-IR spectroscopic measurements (using FORS, ISAAC and SINFONI instruments) with a S/N ratio as high as possible for almost all objects among different dynamical groups observable within the VLT capability.In this paper we present results on the second half of the Large Program which includes new near-infrared spectroscopy data of 20 objects. For 12 of them for which we had obtained the complete spectral range (V + J + H + K bands), we apply a radiative transfer model to the entire spectral range to constrain their surface composition.We also present an analysis of all near-IR spectral data available on TNOs and Centaurs from both the complete LP and the literature. An overview for a total sample of 75 objects is thus carried out analyzing the ice content with respect to the physical and dynamical characteristics. The major new results are: (i) all objects classified as BB class seem to have icy surfaces; (ii) the possible presence of CH3OH has primarily been detected on very red surfaces (RR class objects) and (iii) the majority of Centaurs observed multiple times have an heterogeneous composition. 相似文献
19.
Brenae L. Bailey 《Icarus》2009,203(1):155-1401
The Centaurs are a transient population of small bodies in the outer Solar System whose orbits are strongly chaotic. These objects typically suffer significant changes of orbital parameters on timescales of a few thousand years, and their orbital evolution exhibits two types of behaviors described qualitatively as random walk and resonance-sticking. We have analyzed the chaotic behavior of the known Centaurs. Our analysis has revealed that the two types of chaotic evolution are quantitatively distinguishable: (1) the random walk type behavior is well described by so-called generalized diffusion in which the rms deviation of the semimajor axis grows with time t as ∼tH, with Hurst exponent H in the range 0.22-0.95, however (2) orbital evolution dominated by intermittent resonance sticking, with sudden jumps from one mean motion resonance to another, has poorly defined H. We further find that these two types of behavior are correlated with Centaur dynamical lifetime: most Centaurs whose dynamical lifetime is less than ∼22 Myr exhibit generalized diffusion, whereas most Centaurs of longer dynamical lifetimes exhibit intermittent resonance sticking. We also find that Centaurs in the diffusing class are likely to evolve into Jupiter-family comets during their dynamical lifetimes, while those in the resonance-hopping class do not. 相似文献
20.
Churyumov K. I. Luk'yanyk I. V. Vlassyuk V. V. Borisov N. V. 《Earth, Moon, and Planets》2002,90(1-4):141-146
We obtained spectra of comet C/1999 S4 (LINEAR) with the UAGS spectrograph(long slit and CCD) installed on the 1-m Zeiss reflector of the SAO of the RAS(Northern Caucuses, Nizhny Arkhyz) on July 23/24, 26/27 and 27/28, 2000. OnJuly 22/23, before the splitting of the cometary nucleus, several emission lines,such as C2, C3, CN, NH, CH, NH2, CO+, H2O+ wereclearly identified in the spectra. The inspections of the CCD spectra obtainedon July 27/28, 2000 reveals only very weak emission lines superimposed on thesolar reflection spectrum. From analyzing the surface brightness profile of C2 along the slit the velocity of separation of two secondary fragments (V = 10 km/h) and the energy of the fragment separation (E = 8.7 × 1015 erg) were estimated. A luminescence cometary continuum of 26% of the total continuum level is detected in the spectra of the comet at 5000 Å. Possible mechanisms of nucleus splitting are discussed. 相似文献