High-resolution spectroscopy of the C2 Swan 0-0 band from Comet P/Halley

High-resolution spectra of the C2 Swan system's 0-0 band from Comet P/Halley in March 1986 show that the populations of the upper state's rotational levels may be described by two rotational temperatures. The low rotational levels provide a low temperature, Trot = about 600 - 700 K. The higher levels correspond to about 3200 K. If a contribution from the 3200-K molecules is subtracted from the populations of the low-J-prime levels, the latter are characterized by Trot = about 190 K. A comparison with recent predictions for C2 molecules fluorescing in sunlight shows that the observed and predicted level populations are in good agreement for J-prime greater than about 15, but there is a sharp disagreement for the low rotational levels.