Detection of forbidden O I 1S-1D in comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock

Spectra of the forbidden O I 1D-3P 'red' doublet and the 1S-1D 'green' line in Comet IRAS-Araki-Alcock (1983d) were obtained during its close approach to the earth. This is the first unequivocal photoelectric detection of the green line in a cometary spectrum. The population ratio of the O (1S) state to the O (1D) state in the inner coma is not greater than 0.03. This ratio eliminates CO or CO2 and points strongly to H2O as the primary parent for excited oxygen atoms.