# # Program information file # PROGRAM_ID 2022B087 PROGRAM_TITLE Deciphering Cometary Outbursts PROGRAM_INV1 Silvia Protopapa PROGRAM_INV2 Michael S.P. Kelley PROGRAM_INV3 Bin Yang PROGRAM_INV4 PROGRAM_INV5 PROGRAM_SCICAT comets PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_BEG We propose to characterize the water-ice properties of a cometary outburst in 2022B with IRTF/SpeX. Our project would observe the aftermath of a comet outburst, fragmentation, or disintegration event and compare its reflectance spectrum to those of comets in quiescent activity. Our ultimate goal is to test the heterogeneity of water ice in cometary nuclei and understand which properties of comets are primitive, and which are evolutionary. We aim to observe a cometary outburst with SpeX/Prism at two epochs: once at the onset of the event, and again about a week later. The two epochs, with goal SNR>=30, will inform us on the presence of water ice through the 1.5 and 2.0 micron absorption bands, and their potential time evolution. The water-ice properties will be assessed by two complementary approaches: [1] radiative transfer modeling of the spectroscopic data, and [2] lifetime sublimation model. PROGRAM_ABSTRACT_END