The rotational structure of the B–X system of sulfur dimers in the spectra of Comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2)

Abstract We have constructed line-by-line fluorescence models for the ro-vibrational bands of the B–X system of sulfur dimers (S 2 ). For the first time the detailed rotational lines of the bands are clearly resolved in the high-resolution echelle spectra of Comet Hyakutake (C/1996 B2), which were obtained at the Kitt Peak 4-m telescope on 26.4 March 1996 (UT). In order to construct satisfactory band models of the B–X system, we first compared the models to laboratory spectra available in literature, and then compared the models including Swings effects to the high-resolution spectra of Hyakutake. From the model fits, we derived a rotational temperature of 70±10 K, which should represent a temperature of a coma region close to the nucleus, where most of the S 2 emissions originate. We present previously proposed scenarios for the origin of S 2 in cometary comae, and compare them with our spectral analysis.