On the identification of formaldehyde in Halley's comet

The v1 and v5 infrared bands of formaldehyde in Halley's comet have been synthesized, using a line-by-line model for solar infrared fluorescence from low-temperature H2CO. Fully resolved spectra were convolved to spectral resolutions comparable with those used on the IKS spectrometer on the Vega 1 spacecraft. Excellent agreement is obtained between the observed and modeled spectra, permitting a definite identification of H2CO in Halley's comet. The retrieved production rate is 4.5 + or - 0.5 x 10 to the 28th molecules/s, and the rotational temperature is probably less than 150 K, with a best-fit value of about 50 K. Production rates (or upper limits) are also retrieved from ground-based spectra of Comets Halley and Wilson (1986), and it is shown that the production rate of H2CO exhibits significant temporal variability, relative to H2O, in Comet Halley.