Water Production of Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS from SOHO/SWAN Observations after Perihelion

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Abstract
The Solar Wind Anisotropies all-sky hydrogen Lyman-alpha camera on the Solar and Heliosphere Observatory observed the hydrogen coma of interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, also called C/2025 N1 (ATLAS), beginning on 2025 November 6, 9 days after perihelion. Water production rates were calculated from each image of 3I/ATLAS using the methodology of J. T. T. Mäkinen and M. R. Combi, and fluorescence rates and g-factors were calculated using the daily solar Lyman-alpha fluxes from the LASP database ( https://lasp.colorado.edu/lisird/data ) corrected for solar rotation and for the comet’s heliocentric velocity. The method has been used for over 90 comet apparitions. A water production rate of 3.17 × 10 29 s −1 was found on November 6 when the comet was at a heliocentric distance of 1.40 au and at a sufficient solar elongation angle. It decreased over time after that, down to 1–2 × 10 28 s −1 around 40 days postperihelion (December 9).
Funding Information
  • NASA ∣ Science Mission Directorate (80NSSC23K0030)

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