Search Publications
Measurement of D/H and 13C/12C ratios in methane ice on Eris and Makemake: Evidence for internal activity
Lunine, J. I.; Emery, J. P.; Hammel, H. B. +13 more
James Webb Space Telescope's NIRSpec infrared imaging spectrometer observed the outer solar system dwarf planets Eris and Makemake in reflected sunlight at wavelengths spanning 1 through 5 µm. Both objects have high albedo surfaces that are rich in methane ice, with a texture that permits long optical path lengths through the ice for solar p…
Chemistry of Complex Organic Molecules in the V883 Ori Disk Revealed by ALMA Band 3 Observations
Aikawa, Yuri; Nomura, Hideko; Yamato, Yoshihide +3 more
Complex organic molecules (COMs) in protoplanetary disks are key to understanding the origin of volatiles in comets in our solar system, yet the chemistry of COMs in protoplanetary disks remains poorly understood. Here, we present Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array Band 3 observations of the disk around the young outbursting star V883 Or…
The Ice Chemistry in Comets and Planet-forming Disks: Statistical Comparison of CH3OH, H2CO, and NH3 Abundance Ratios
Ceccarelli, Cecilia; Codella, Claudio; Villanueva, Geronimo L. +5 more
Comets are frozen remnants of our solar system's formation, and comparing their chemical composition to that of planet-forming systems can reveal crucial insights about our origins, potentially answering one of the most challenging questions in planetary science, i.e., whether cometary material was mainly inherited from the protosolar nebula or re…
The GUAPOS project - V: The chemical ingredients of a massive stellar protocluster in the making
Testi, L.; Mininni, C.; Lorenzani, A. +9 more
Most stars, including the Sun, are born in rich stellar clusters containing massive stars. Therefore, the study of the chemical reservoir of massive star-forming regions is crucial to understand the basic chemical ingredients available at the dawn of planetary systems. We present a detailed study of the molecular inventory of the hot molecular cor…
Properties of the gas escaping from a non-isothermal porous dust surface layer of a comet
Mottola, S.; Küppers, M.; Thomas, N. +6 more
Estimation of the properties of the sublimation products leaving the cometary nucleus is one of the significant questions in the study of the dusty-gas flow following the Rosetta mission. It is widely assumed that the temperature of the water molecules emitted is the temperature of ice directly exposed to the surface. However, it is the simplest n…
Diurnal Ejection of Boulder Clusters on Comet 67P Lasting beyond 3 au
Keller, Horst Uwe; Shi, Xian; Güttler, Carsten +6 more
Ejection of large boulder-like debris is a vigorous form of cometary activity that is unlikely induced by water ice out-gassing alone but rather associated with the sublimation of super-volatile ices. Though perceived on several comets, the actual pattern and mechanism of such activity are still unclear. Here we report on a specialized observation…
Cliff collapse on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko - I. Aswan
Davidsson, Björn J. R.
The Aswan cliff on Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko collapsed on 2015 July 10. Thereby, relatively pristine comet material from a depth of $\sim 12\, \mathrm{m}$ was exposed at the surface. Observations of the collapse site by the microwave instrument Rosetta/Microwave Instrument for Rosetta Orbiter (MIRO) have been retrieved from 8 months prior to…
Deciphering cometary outbursts: linking gas composition changes to trigger mechanisms
Mall, Urs; De Keyser, Johan; Berthelier, Jean-Jacques +9 more
Dust and gas outbursts are recurrent cometary phenomena, playing a crucial role in shaping the coma. Proposed outburst trigger mechanisms include cliff collapse, pressure pockets, and amorphous-to-crystalline phase transition of water ice; however, the underlying processes remain inadequately understood. In this study, we analyse Rosetta/ROSINA da…
Evidence for Abiotic Dimethyl Sulfide in Cometary Matter
De Keyser, Johan; Altwegg, Kathrin; Hänni, Nora +5 more
Technological progress related to astronomical observatories such as the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) allows searching for signs of life beyond our solar system, namely, in the form of unambiguous biosignature gases in exoplanetary atmospheres. The tentative assignment of a 1σ–2.4σ spectral feature observed with JWST in the …
Measuring Erosional and Depositional Patterns Across Comet 67P's Imhotep Region
Soderblom, J. M.; Hayes, A. G.; Kirk, R. L. +8 more
Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko displays a pronounced hemispherical dichotomy in surface morphology, where the southern hemisphere exhibits more erosional features than the northern hemisphere due to receiving much greater solar radiation. Consequently, it is generally assumed that particles are ejected from the southern hemisphere through sublima…