JCMT detection of HCN emission from 3I/ATLAS at 2.1 AU

Fuente: arXiv
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Main Authors: Coulson, Iain M., Kuan, Yi-Jehng, Charnley, Steven B., Cordiner, Martin A., Chuang, Yo-Ling, Lee, Yueh-Ning, Lin, Min-Kai, Milam, Stefanie N., Pimpanuwat, Bannawit, Roth, Nathan X., Żółtowski, Michał
Format: Preprint
Published: 2025
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author Coulson, Iain M.
Kuan, Yi-Jehng
Charnley, Steven B.
Cordiner, Martin A.
Chuang, Yo-Ling
Lee, Yueh-Ning
Lin, Min-Kai
Milam, Stefanie N.
Pimpanuwat, Bannawit
Roth, Nathan X.
Żółtowski, Michał
author_facet Coulson, Iain M.
Kuan, Yi-Jehng
Charnley, Steven B.
Cordiner, Martin A.
Chuang, Yo-Ling
Lee, Yueh-Ning
Lin, Min-Kai
Milam, Stefanie N.
Pimpanuwat, Bannawit
Roth, Nathan X.
Żółtowski, Michał
contents We report the detection of HCN ($J=3-2$) rotational emission from comet 3I/ATLAS at a heliocentric distance of 2.13 AU with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Observations were conducted from 07 August 2025 and 14 September 2025 (UT) using the $^{\prime}\overline U^{\prime}\overline u$ heterodyne receiver and ACSIS spectroscopic backend. The HCN line was detected at $>6σ$ on 14 Sep 2025 (UT) and a production rate of $Q({\rm HCN})=(4.0\pm1.7)\times10^{25}\ {\rm s}^{-1}$ was derived by non-LTE radiative transfer modelling. Preliminary estimates of the HCN/H$_2$O and CN/HCN abundance ratios suggest values similar to Solar System comets.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2510_02817
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle JCMT detection of HCN emission from 3I/ATLAS at 2.1 AU
Coulson, Iain M.
Kuan, Yi-Jehng
Charnley, Steven B.
Cordiner, Martin A.
Chuang, Yo-Ling
Lee, Yueh-Ning
Lin, Min-Kai
Milam, Stefanie N.
Pimpanuwat, Bannawit
Roth, Nathan X.
Żółtowski, Michał
Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
We report the detection of HCN ($J=3-2$) rotational emission from comet 3I/ATLAS at a heliocentric distance of 2.13 AU with the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). Observations were conducted from 07 August 2025 and 14 September 2025 (UT) using the $^{\prime}\overline U^{\prime}\overline u$ heterodyne receiver and ACSIS spectroscopic backend. The HCN line was detected at $>6σ$ on 14 Sep 2025 (UT) and a production rate of $Q({\rm HCN})=(4.0\pm1.7)\times10^{25}\ {\rm s}^{-1}$ was derived by non-LTE radiative transfer modelling. Preliminary estimates of the HCN/H$_2$O and CN/HCN abundance ratios suggest values similar to Solar System comets.
title JCMT detection of HCN emission from 3I/ATLAS at 2.1 AU
topic Earth and Planetary Astrophysics
Astrophysics of Galaxies
Solar and Stellar Astrophysics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.02817