Observations of the rotational lines of OH in comets with the Herschel Space Observatory

We present here a search for the OH rotational lines in these spectral scans. In comet 103P/Hartley 2, the 2 3/2(5/2)-2 3/2(3/2) lines at 119 μm and 2 1/2(5/2)-2 1/2(3/2) lines at 99 μm are detected. Other lines may be marginally present. Two mechanisms concur to the emission of the OH rotational lines: fluorescence due to solar excitation of the electronic states of OH [8] and prompt emission following the photodissociation of water, which produces the OH radical in electronic, vibrational and rotational excited states [9, 10]. We will compare the observed line intensities with those expected from these mechanisms, using the comet water productions determined from Herschel [6, 7], in order to better constrain the excitation of cometary OH.