Diffuse Emission from Solar System Objects Fuzzy blobs I know and love Dr. Jeff Morgenthaler Outline Examples of diffuse objects Comets Io plasma torus Solar system itself What are they? Why are they interesting? How are they studied? Comet Basics Anatomy of a comet Ion Tail Dust Tail Head Sun (10 6 km) Dust (1 m) Comet HalleyComet Borrelly Comet Wild 2 Comet Tempel 1 Cometary Nuclei ~10 km Comets: the most primordial objects in the solar system Studying comets: remote sensing CN coma: Comet Hale-Bopp Oxygen Coma McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope Facility Spatial Heterodyne Spectrometer: All reflective version Io Plasma Torus Io is the most volcanic body in the solar system Nearest astrophysical nebula Studied with: McMath-Pierce Solar Small telescopes X-ray emission from comets and the solar system Solar wind Heliosphere Local interstellar medium (solar wind ion) (cometary or interplanetary hydrogen) Diffuse X-ray Spectrometer What used to be thought of as interstellar X-ray emission may be entirely heliospheric Summary Diffuse objects Comets Io plasma torus Solar system itself Interesting Studied with resources available to St. Marys College of Maryland