1. Diffuse Emission from Solar System Objects Fuzzy blobs I know and love Dr. Jeff Morgenthaler

2. Outline Examples of diffuse objects –Comets –Io plasma torus –Solar system itself What are they? Why are they interesting? How are they studied?

4. Comet Basics

5. Anatomy of a comet Ion Tail Dust Tail Head Sun (10 6 km) Dust (1  m)

6. Comet HalleyComet Borrelly Comet Wild 2 Comet Tempel 1 Cometary Nuclei ~10 km

8. Comets: the most primordial objects in the solar system

9. Studying comets: remote sensing CN coma:

10. Comet Hale-Bopp Oxygen Coma

11. McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope Facility

13. Spatial Heterodyne Spectrometer: All reflective version

15. Io Plasma Torus Io is the most volcanic body in the solar system

16. Nearest astrophysical nebula Studied with: –McMath-Pierce Solar –Small telescopes

17. X-ray emission from comets and the solar system Solar wind Heliosphere Local interstellar medium (solar wind ion) (cometary or interplanetary hydrogen)

18. Diffuse X-ray Spectrometer What used to be thought of as interstellar X-ray emission may be entirely heliospheric

19. Summary Diffuse objects –Comets –Io plasma torus –Solar system itself Interesting Studied with resources available to St. Mary’s College of Maryland