A high-resolution catalog of cometary emission lines

Using high-resolution spectra obtained with the Hamilton echelle spectrograph at Lick Observatory, we have constructed a catalog of emission lines observed in comets Swift-Tuttle and Brorsen-Metcalf. The spectra cover the range between 3800 Angstrom and 9900 Angstrom with a spectral resolution of lambda/Delta lambda similar to 42000. In the spectra, we catalog 2997 emission lines of which we identify 2438, We find cometary lines due to H, O, C-2, CN, NH2, C-3, H2O+, CH, and CH+. We list 559 unidentified lines compiled from the two spectra and comment on possibilities for their origins. (C) 1996 American Astronomical Society.