E. Poretti (Brera Observatory) communicates this observing report:
Object: POSSIBLE OH DETECTION DURING JUPITER-COMET IMPACT
A possible signal of OH was detected during a A, H and Q impacts. The observations were performed at Legnano (Milan) Observatory (Lat=+45 36'30", Long=8 55'35 W) by a 1.5 m parabolic antenna equipped with an HP 8555 A spectral analyzer (0-3.5 GHz) and a 10 cm refractor located in the middle to easy find Jupiter. These are preliminary results:
- July 16: signal centered at 1720 +/- 50 MHz (power about 4 picowatt)
from 15 minutes after the event A (19h58m UT) to 21h19m UT.
This signal was absent before and disappeared when antenna
did not point Jupiter
- July 18: signal centered at 1680 +/- 50 MHz (power about 4-5 picowatt)
from 19h50m UT (24 min after the beginning of H event) to about
21h UT (clouds and rain did not permit other measurements). Once
again, during the event, the signal disappeared outside Jupiter
- July 20: signal centered at 1690 +/- 50 MHz received only 20 min from
from 20h10m UT (10 min after Q2 event). Again rain did not
permit any measurements before and after.
Different ambient temperatures surely produces little thermal shift in the position of the signal. We ask for other observations of this kind, because, in theory, our signal may be linked to OH released by cometary water heated during the impact, at thousands of degrees. We also ask for possible other explanations of our observations.
L. Bertazzo, L. Ferioli, A. Rifaldi, F. Lazzati (Legnano Observatory)
R. Crippa, C. Guaita, F. Manzini (Merate Observatory)