9316936 Schleicher This award will support the travel of David Schleicher from the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona to spend six weeks in the spring of 1994 conducting collaborative research on the physical and chemical properties of three specific comets with Peter Birch at the Perth Observatory in Australia. Observations of Comet Encke will concentrate on discerning the nature of coma structures known to occur in this comet. Images of Comet Mueller will either be used to determine spatial profiles of the various gas species or to search for a rotational signal, depending upon whether the comet is static or varying on a day-to-day basis. Comet Borrelly, one of a class of carbon- depleted comets, also will be studied for periodic variations. In Australia, the Department of Industry, Technology and Regional Development has already made an award to support the reciprocal visit of Peter Birch to the Lowell Observatory during 1994.
