CometSpec

Fluorescence modeling & MCMC fitting for cometary spectra

CometSpec is a Python package for modeling fluorescence emission in cometary spectra and fitting observed data using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods.

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Fluorescence Modeling

Physics-based fluorescence equilibrium model with solar radiative pumping, spontaneous and stimulated emission, and collisional excitation.

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MCMC Fitting

Bayesian parameter estimation via emcee with flexible priors and multi-isotopologue support.

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Multi-Isotopologue

Simultaneous modeling of ¹²C¹⁴N, ¹³C¹⁴N, and ¹²C¹⁵N, ¹²C₂, ¹³C₂, ¹²C¹³C, and Fe. Additinally custom line list are supported.

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Production Rates

Derive production rates from fitted column densities using the Haser coma model or asumming a ρ^-1 profile

Roadmap¶

CometSpec is under active development. Planned additions include:

Dust and solar continuum — model the underlying continuum alongside emission lines
More molecules — extend beyond CN, C₂, Fe to other cometary species and polishing of existing line lists.
Non-equilibrium and non-LTE models — go beyond fluorescence equilibrium to model more complex excitation conditions
Nested sampling — add nested sampling as an alternative or complement to MCMC for posterior estimation

If you are interested in collaborating, feel free to reach out at baltasarluco@uc.cl.

Getting Started¶

Install CometSpec and run your first model in minutes:

pip install cometspec