The effect of using different scale lengths on the production rates of Comet 46P/Wirtanen

The variations in production rates for Comet 46P/Wirtanen for the species H2O and the parents of C2 and CN are examined from the point of view of a variety of commonly used scale lengths. The calculations are carried out as a function of heliocentric distance. It is shown that, by using a common set of scale lengths, the results of various investigators can be brought into acceptable accord. The resulting production rates of H2O and the parents of C2 and CN versus heliocentric distance are recalculated and plotted versus the heliocentric distance rH. The curves show reasonable agreement with a slope of ∼rH−4. The water production rate near perihelion of 46P/Wirtanen is close to 2×1028 mol s−1.