Impacts from icy and rocky bodies have helped shape the composition of solar system objects, for example the Earth-Moon system, or the recent impact of comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 with Jupiter. […]
Comet
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Press Release
Records Of Cometary Dust Hitting Asteroid Ryugu
Ryugu is a near-Earth asteroid that gained significant attention when the Japanese Hayabusa2 mission collected samples and returned them to Earth. These samples have proven to offer a treasure trove […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Long-term Spectroscopic Monitoring Of Comet 46P/Wirtanen
Jupiter Family Comets (JFCs), having orbital period less than 20 years, provide us with an opportunity to observe their activity and analyse the homogeneity in their coma composition over multiple […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Interstellar, Origin & Evolution of Life, Panspermia, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Status Report
The Implications Of ‘Oumuamua On Panspermia
Panspermia is the hypothesis that life originated on Earth from the bombardment of foreign interstellar ejecta harboring polyextremophile microorganisms.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Dust And Volatiles In The Disintegrating Comet C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS)
C/2019 Y4 (ATLAS) is an Oort cloud comet with an orbital period of ∼5895yr. Starting in March 2020, its nucleus underwent disintegration.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report
Detection And Characterisation Of Icy Cavities On The Nucleus Of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
We report on the detection of three icy cavities on the nucleus of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. They were identified on high-resolution anaglyphs built from images acquired by the OSIRIS instrument aboard […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Inferring the CO2 Abundance in Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdušáková from [O I] Observations: Implications for the Source of Icy Grains in Cometary Comae
The study of cometary composition is important for understanding our solar system’s early evolutionary processes. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a common hypervolatile in comets that can drive activity but is […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Survivability Of Amorphous Ice In Comets Depends On The Latent Heat Of Crystallization Of Impure Water Ice
Comets would have amorphous ice rather than crystalline one at the epoch of their accretion. Cometary ice contains some impurities that govern the latent heat of ice crystallization, Lcry.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Status Report
The Role of Low-energy (< 20 eV) Secondary Electrons in the Extraterrestrial Synthesis of Prebiotic Molecules
We demonstrate for the first time that Galactic cosmic rays with energies as high as 1e10 eV can trigger a cascade of low-energy (< 20 eV) secondary electrons that could […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Missions & Hardware, Status Report
Comet 81P/Wild 2: A Record of the Solar System’s Wild Youth
NASA’s Stardust mission returned rocky material from the coma of comet 81P/Wild 2 (pronounced “Vilt 2”) to Earth for laboratory study on January 15, 2006. Comet Wild 2 contains volatile […]