A new study by a Belgian team using data from the European Southern Observatory's Very Large Telescope (ESO's VLT) has shown that iron and nickel exist in the atmospheres of comets throughout our Solar System, even those far from the Sun. A.
Iron and nickel vapours found in cold atmosphere of comets for first time ‘It was a big surprise to detect iron and nickel atoms in the atmosphere of all the comets we have observed in the last two decades . 19 May, 2021 15:00
Scientists have spoken of their “big surprise” after discovering iron and nickel vapours in the ultra-cold atmosphere of comets for the first time.
These heavy metals are usually associated with hot environments, but astronomers found atoms of nickel and iron in the clouds of dust and gas surrounding distant comets, more than 480 million kilometres from the Sun (about three times the distance between the Earth and the Sun).
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Heavy Metal Vapors Unexpectedly Found in Comets Throughout Our Solar System and Beyond A new study by a Belgian team using data from the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope (ESO’s VLT) has shown that iron and nickel exist in the atmospheres of comets throughout our Solar System, even those far from the Sun. A separate study by a Polish team, who also used ESO data, reported that nickel vapour is also present in the icy interstellar comet 2I/Borisov. This is the first time heavy metals, usually associated with hot environments, have been found in the cold atmospheres of distant comets.
This image of comet C/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) was captured from ESO s SPECULOOS telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile. (Image credit: ESO/SPECULOOS Team/E. Jehin)
Scientists typically do not detect metals such as nickel in the comas of comets, since their surfaces are usually too cold for metal to vaporize. Exceptions to this rule are comets passing near or plunging into the sun, when temperatures can readily exceed the 800 degrees Fahrenheit (425 degrees Celsius) needed for nickel vapor to form.
Now scientists have detected nickel atoms in the coma of the first known interstellar comet, 2I/Borisov. First discovered in 2019, its speed and trajectory revealed it was a rogue comet from interstellar space, making it the first known interstellar comet and the second known interstellar visitor after the pancake-shaped shape rock 1I/ Oumuamua.
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