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By Tim Wogan2021-05-20T10:33:00+01:00
Polish astronomers have identified nickel vapour in the tail of the comet 2I/Borisov – an interstellar comet spotted passing through the solar system in 2019 – even though the temperature was far too low for the sublimation of nickel.
1 The researchers suspect, therefore, that the nickel was released from photodissociation of compounds in the comet. Independent observations by Belgian astronomers identify similar gaseous nickel, in cold solar system comets, suggesting a possible organometallic origin.
2 The two papers together, therefore, could suggest a shared organic chemistry between different planetary systems.
When Piotr Guzik and Michał Drahus of Jagiellonian University in Kraków analysed ultraviolet spectra from the tail of 2I/Borisov, they did not expect emission lines from metals as these remain solid up to high temperatures. ‘It was far away from the sun and the coma was cold,’ explains Guzik. ‘But there were some strang
Heavy metal space rock
The detection of the heavy metals iron (Fe) and nickel (Ni) in the fuzzy atmosphere of a comet are illustrated in this image, which features the spectrum of light of C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) on the top left superimposed to a real image of the comet taken with the SPECULOOS telescope at ESO’s Paranal Observatory. Credit: ESO/L. Calçada, SPECULOOS Team/E. Jehin, Manfroid et al.
For the first time, astronomers have detected traces of heavy metals in the atmospheres of comets – both those whizzing through our Solar System and those from interstellar space.
Scientists have long known that the dusty, rocky interiors of comets harbour solid forms of heavy metals. But these metals have only previously been observed in hot environments, like evaporating comets soaring to close too the Sun or ultra-hot exoplanet atmospheres.
Auburn professor Bodewits’ work included in NASA’s Hubble timeline
Published: February 17, 2021
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NASA recently included the work of Dennis Bodewits an associate professor in Auburn University’s Department of Physics in the College of Sciences and Mathematics in a timeline highlighting the history of the revolutionary Hubble Space Telescope.
Bodewits used the telescope to study the composition of Comet 2I/Borisov, the first interstellar comet to pass through our solar system, and his findings originally published in an April 20, 2020, article were included as an historic highlight in the interactive Hubble History Timeline. Bodewits’ work helped detail the comet’s unusual chemical makeup, which includes an abundance of carbon monoxide.