The Nançay database
of OH 18-cm lines in comets.


Updated January 2023.

Since the apparition of comet Kohoutek 1973 XII, the 18-cm lines of the OH radical have been systematically observed in a number of comets with the Nançay radio telescope. This allowed an evaluation of the cometary water production rates and their evolution with time, as well as a study of several physical processes such as the excitation mechanisms of the OH radio lines, the expansion of the cometary atmospheres, their anisotropy in relation with non-gravitational forces, the Zeeman effect in relation with the cometary magnetic field. Only part of these observations and their analysis have already been published. The Nançay observations of 53 cometary apparitions between 1982 and 1999 are now organized in a database.

The database is described in:

  • Observations at Nançay of the OH 18-cm lines in comets: The data base. Observations made from 1982 to 1999.
    Crovisier, J., Colom, P., Gérard, E., Bockelée-Morvan, D., Bourgois, G.
    2002, Astron. Astrophys., 393, 1053-1064. Preprint and electronic material.

    Tables and figures for each comet are available electronically (total of 84 tables and 559 figures). They were prepared with XCOM.

    Observations made in 2000-2002 with the upgraded Nançay radio telescope are described in:

  • Observations of the OH 18-cm lines of comets with the recently upgraded Nançay radio telescope.
    Crovisier, J., Colom, P., Gérard, E., Bockelée-Morvan, D., Henry, F., Lecacheux, A., and Biver, N.
    2002, Asteroids Comets Meteors 2002, ESA SP-500, 685-688. Paper.

    A more comprehensive paper on comets observed since 2000 is in preparation.

    This database is prepared with XCOM, a dedicated interactive software to process and display the Nançay cometary spectra, and to retrieve physical parameters such as the OH production rates, using model parameters specified by the user. XCOM is based upon the GILDAS software package. XCOM is not transportable and is only available for our group at Meudon.

    List of comets with links to their tables and figures.

    Click on "files" to access tables and figure. Comets are ordered by perihelion dates.
    The two-character code refers to internal file names and are the same as for XCOM.
    Comets observed before 1982, not (or not officially) in the database:
    
    1973 XII    1973f     C/1973 E1 Kohoutek                  KO 
    1975 IX     1975h     C/1975 N1 Kobayashi-Berger-Milon    KB 
    1976 VI     1975n     C/1975 V1 West                      WE 
    1977 XI              2P/        Encke                     E1 
    1977 XIV    1977m     C/1977 R1 Kohler                    KL 
    1978 VII    1978c     C/1978 C1 Bradfield                 B1 
    1978 XXI    1978f     C/1978 H1 Meier                     M1 
    1979 X      1979l     C/1979 Y1 Bradfield                 B2 
    1980 XI              2P/        Encke                     E2 
    1980 XII    1980q     C/1980 V1 Meier                     M2 
    1980 XV     1980t     C/1980 Y1 Bradfield                 B3 
    1981 XIX    1981j   64P/        Swift-Gehrels             SG 
    
    Comets observed in 1982-1998, included in the database described in the paper:
    
    1982 I      1980b     C/1980 E1 Bowell                    BO  files  
    1982 IV     1982a   26P/        Grigg-Skjellerup          GS  files  
    1982 VI     1982g     C/1982 M1 Austin                    A1  files  
    1982 VII    1982e    6P/        d'Arrest                  DA  files  
    1982 VIII   1982f   67P/        Churyumov-Gerasimenko     CG  files  
    1984 IV     1983n   27P/        Crommelin                 CR  files  
    1984 XIII   1984i     C/1984 N1 Austin                    A2  files  
    1985 XIII   1984e   21P/        Giacobini-Zinner          GZ  files  
    1985 XVII   1985l     C/1985 R1 Hartley-Good              HG  files  
    1985 XIX    1985m     C/1985 T1 Thiele                    TH  files  
    1986 III    1982i    1P/1982 U1 Halley                    HA  files  
    1987 II     1986n     C/1986 V1 Sorrells                  SO  files  
    1987 III    1987c     C/1987 B1 Nishikawa-Takamizawa-Tago NI  files  
    1987 VII    1986l     C/1986 P1 Wilson                    WI  files  
    1987 XXIX   1987s     C/1987 P1 Bradfield                 BR  files  
    1988 I      1987d1    C/1987 W1 Ichimura                  IC  files  
    1988 V      1988a     C/1988 A1 Liller                    LI  files  
    1988 XV     1988j     C/1988 P1 Machholz                  MA  files  
    1989 X      1989o   23P/1989 N1 Brorsen-Metcalf           BM  files  
    1989 XIX    1989r     C/1989 Q1 Okazaki-Levy-Rudenko      OK  files  
    1989 XXII   1989a1    C/1989 W1 Aarseth-Brewington        AA  files  
    1990 V      1989c1    C/1989 X1 Austin                    A3  files  
    1990 XX     1990c     C/1990 K1 Levy                      LE  files  
    1992 III    1991g1    C/1991 Y1 Zanotta-Brewington        ZB  files  
    1992 VII    1992b     C/1992 B1 Bradfield                 B4  files  
    1992 VIII   1991h1    C/1991 X2 Mueller                   MU  files  
    1992 XIX    1991a1    C/1991 T2 Shoemaker-Levy            SL  files  
    1992 XXVIII 1992t  109P/1992 S2 Swift-Tuttle              ST  files  
    1993 III    1992x   24P/        Schaumasse                SC  files  
    1994 V               2P/        Encke (1994)              E3  files  
    1994 IX     1993p     C/1993 Q1 Mueller                   M3  files  
    1994 XI     1993v     C/1993 Y1 McNaught-Russell          MR  files  
    1994 XV     1992r    8P/        Tuttle                    TU  files  
    1994 XXVI   1994o     P/1994 P1 Machholz 2                M4  files  
    1994 XXX    1994l   19P/        Borrelly                  BY  files  
                        15P/        Finlay                    FI  files  
                          C/1995 Q1 Bradfield                 B5  files  
                        73P/        Schwassmann-Wachmann 3    SW  files  
                       122P/1995 S1 de Vico                   DV  files  
                        45P/        Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova   HM  files  
                          C/1996 B2 Hyakutake                 HY  files  
                        22P/        Kopff                     KP  files  
                          C/1996 Q1 Tabur                     TA  files  
                          C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp                 HB  files  
                        46P/        Wirtanen                  WR  files  
                        81P/        Wild 2                    WL  files  
                         2P/        Encke (1997)              E4  files  
                          C/1998 J1 SOHO                      SH  files  
                          C/1998 P1 Williams                  WM  files  
                        21P/        Giacobini-Zinner          G2  files  
                          C/1998 U5 LINEAR                    UL  files  
                          C/1999 H1 Lee                       EE  files  
                          C/1999 N2 Lynn                      LY  files  
    
    The database for comets observed in 2000-2013:
    
                          C/1999 S4  LINEAR                   S4  files  not in the database
                          C/1999 T1  McNaught-Hartley         T1  files  
                          C/2000 W1  Utsunomiya-Jones         UJ  files  
                        73P/         Schwassmann-Wachmann 3   S3  files  
                        45P/         Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova  H1  files  
                        24P/         Schaumasse (2001)        S2  files  
                          C/2001 A2  LINEAR                   L1  files  
                        16P/         Brooks 2 (2001)          BK  files  
                        19P/         Borrelly (2001)          BZ  files  
                          C/2000 WM1 LINEAR                   W1  files   
                       153P/2002 C1  Ikeya-Zhang              IZ  files   
                          C/2002 F1  Utsunomiya               UT  files   
                        46P/         Wirtanen (2002)          W2  files   
                          C/2002 O6  SWAN                     SN  files  
                          C/2002 V1  NEAT                     V1  files   
                          C/2002 X5  Kudo-Fujikawa            KF  files  
                          C/2002 Y1  Juels-Holvorcem          Y1  files  
                         2P/         Encke (2003)             E5  files 
                          C/2004 F4  Bradfield                F4  files 
                          C/2002 T7  LINEAR                   T7  files  
                          C/2003 T3  Tabur                    T3  files 
                          C/2001 Q4  NEAT                     Q4  files  
                          C/2003 K4  LINEAR                   K4  files  
                          C/2004 Q2  Machholz                 Q2  files  
                          C/2003 T4  LINEAR                   T4  files 
                         9P/         Tempel 1 (2005)          TE  files  
                          C/2006 A1  Pojmanski                PO  files 
                        73P/         Schwassmann-Wachmann 3   S5  files 
                         4P/         Faye (2006)              FA  files 
                          C/2006 M4  SWAN                     M7  files 
                          C/2006 P1  McNaught                 P1  files 
                        96P/         Machholz 1 (2007)        MH  files 
                         2P/         Encke (2007)             E6  files 
                        17P/         Holmes                   HL  files 
                          C/2007 F1  LONEOS                   P1  files 
                         8P/         Tuttle (2008)            P8  files 
                        46P/         Wirtanen (2008)          W3  files 
                          C/2007 W1  Boattini                 BT  files 
                         6P/         d'Arrest (2008)          DB  files 
                          C/2008 A1  McNaught                 A8  files 
                          C/2007 N3  Lulin                    LU  files 
                       144P/         Kushida (2009)           KU  files 
                        22P/         Kopff (2009)             K1  files 
                          C/2008 T2  Cardinal                 CA  files 
                          C/2006 W3  Christensen              CT  files 
                          C/2007 Q3  Siding Spring            SI  files 
                        88P/         Howell (2009)            HW  files 
                        81P/         Wild 2 (2010)            WD  files 
    		      C/2009 O2  Catalina                 CL  files 
                          C/2009 K5  McNaught                 K5  files 
                          C/2009 R1  McNaught                 R1  files 
    		    10P/         Tempel 2 (2010)          TP  files 
                       103P/         Hartley 2 (2010)         HT  files 
                          C/2010 X1  Elenin                   X1  files 
                        45P/         Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova  HO  files 
                          C/2009 P1  Garradd                  GR  files 
                        96P/         Machholz 1 (2012)        MZ  files 
                          C/2012 K5  LINEAR                   KL  files 
    		      C/2011 F1  LINEAR                   FL  files 
                          C/2012 T5  Bressi                   T5  files 
    		      C/2011 L4  PANSTARRS                L4  files 
                          C/2012 F6  Lemmon                   F6  files 
    		      C/2012 S1  ISON                     S1  files 
    		      C/2013 R1  Lovejoy                  LR  files 
    
    Further additions for comets with published results:
    
                          C/2012 F6  Lemmon                   F6  files 
    		      C/2014 Q2  Lovejoy                  LV  files 
    		    41P/         Tuttle-G-K (2017)        TG  files 
    		      C/2016 R2  PANSTARRS                R2  files 
    		    21P/         Giacobini-Zinner (2018)  G3  files 
    		    64P/         Swift-Gehrels (2018)     GH  files 
    		    38P/         Stephan-Oterma (2018)    SA  files 
    		    46P/         Wirtanen (2018)          W4  files 
                          C/2020 F3  NEOWISE                  F3  files 
                        67P/         Churyumov-G (2021)       C2  files 
    
    The following comets were observed, but their data are not yet publicly available:
       
                        96P/         Machholz 1 (2012)        
                          C/2012 K5  LINEAR
    		      C/2011 F1  LINEAR
                          C/2012 T5  Bressi
    		      C/2011 L4  PANSTARRS 
    		      C/2012 S1  ISON     
    		      C/2013 R1  Lovejoy  
                          C/2012 X1  LINEAR   
    		      C/2014 E2  Jacques  
                          C/2013 UQ4 Catalina 
    		      C/2012 K1  PANSTARRS  
    		      C/2013 V5  Oukaimeden  
    		      C/2013 A1  Siding Spring 
    		      C/2015 G2  MASTER 
    		      C/2014 Q1  PANSTARRS 
    		      C/2013 US10 Catalina 
    		   252P/         LINEAR (2016)                   
    		      C/2013 X1  PANSTARRS                
    		      C/2013 X1  PANSTARRS 
    	             2P/         Encke (2017)
    		      C/2015 ER61 PANSTARRS  
    		      C/2015 V2  Johnson 
    		      C/2017 T1  Heinze  
    		      C/2017 S3  PANSTARRS  
    		      C/2018 V1  Machholz-Fujikawa-Iwamoto 
                         2I/2019 Q4  Borisov                  
                          C/2017 T2  PANSTARRS                
                          C/2020 F8  SWAN                     
                          C/2019 Y4  ATLAS                    
                          C/2019 U6  Lemmon                   
                        88P/         Howell (2020)            
    	   	     7P/         Pons-Winnecke (2021)             
                        15P/         Finlay (2021)                   
                          C/2021 A1  Leonard                 
                        19P/         Borrelly (2022)                 
                          C/2021 O3  PanSTARRS               
                        45P/         Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova (2022)
                          C/2017 K2  PanSTARRS               
                          C/2022 E3  ZTF                  
    

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