Pioneer Venus Lyman-alpha observations of Comet P/Giacobini-Zinner and the life expectancy of cometary hydrogen

Results are given of the Pioneer Venus observation of the hydrogen coma of Comet P/Giacobini-Zinner on September 11, 1985 during the fly-by conducted by the International Cometary Explorer (ICE). Analysis of the data with a time-dependent 3-D particle-trajectory model implies a water production rate of 2.2 x 10 to the 28 per second on that day. The model includes the irregular variations in the H lifetime and the H Lyman-alpha fluorescence rate determined from simultaneous measurements of the solar wind by ICE and of the solar UV by the Solar Mesosphere Explorer (SME), respectively. The H lifetime varied from 2 x 10 to the 5 to 3 x 10 to the 6 seconds during the 42 days preceding the observation.