An infrared color gradient in the inner coma of Comet Halley

A well-defined gradient is noted in the J-H and H-K colors of near-IR images obtained for Comet Halley in November, 1985, within about 8000 km of the nucleus; the bluest colors are at the photocenter, in conjunction with surface brightness profiles that are steeper than those expected. The color gradient and the brightness profiles are both explainable by the present analysis in terms of the presence of volatile, dirty-ice grains in the inner coma. An outburst of Rayleigh-scattering dust particles (unsupported by spacecraft measurements obtained to date) may also account for the observational data.