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En Route To Destruction: The Evolution In Composition Of Ices In Comet D/2012 S1 (Ison) Between 1.2 And 0.34 Au From The Sun As Revealed At Infrared Wavelengths, M. A. Disanti, B. P. Bonev, E. L. Gibb, L. Paganini, G. L. Villanueva, M. J. Mumma, J. V. Keane, G. A. Blake, N. Dello Russo, K. J. Meech, R. J. Vervack, A. J. Mckay
En Route To Destruction: The Evolution In Composition Of Ices In Comet D/2012 S1 (Ison) Between 1.2 And 0.34 Au From The Sun As Revealed At Infrared Wavelengths, M. A. Disanti, B. P. Bonev, E. L. Gibb, L. Paganini, G. L. Villanueva, M. J. Mumma, J. V. Keane, G. A. Blake, N. Dello Russo, K. J. Meech, R. J. Vervack, A. J. Mckay
Erika Gibb
We report production rates for H2O and eight trace molecules (CO, C2H6, CH4, CH3OH, NH3, H2CO, HCN, C2H2) in the dynamically new, Sun-grazing Comet C/2012 S1 (ISON), using high-resolution spectroscopy at Keck II and the NASA IRTF on 10 pre-perihelion dates encompassing heliocentric distances Rh = 1.21–0.34 AU. Measured water production rates spanned two orders of magnitude, consistent with a long-term heliocentric power law Q(H2O) ${\rm{\propto }}{R}_{{\rm{h}}}^{(-3.1\pm 0.1)}$. Abundance ratios for CO, C2H6, and CH4 with respect to H2O remained constant with Rh and below their corresponding mean values measured among a dominant sample of Oort Cloud comets. CH3OH was …