Visible spectroscopy of collisions of solar-wind ions on gas targets of astrophysical interest

In 1996 the ROSAT satellite discovered x-ray emission from comets. It has been established that the primary mechanism for the emission of cometary x-rays is charge exchange during collisions of highly-charged solar-wind ions with neutral gases of cometary atmospheres. The x-ray spectra from collisions of O$^{q+}$, C$^{q+}$, Ne$^{q+}$, and S$^{q+}$ with CO were investigated at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We present a complimentary investigation of visible spectra from these collisions. Our 2 MV Van de Graaff accelerator was used to produce ions of O$^{q+}$, C$^{q+}$, Ne$^{q+}$, and S$^{q+}$ (q = 1 to a max of 5 for O) to collide with neutral targets of CO and H$_{2}$O. The research at the University of Connecticut has been sponsored by NASA EPSCoR Grant NCC5-601.