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Register a new userCarbon monoxide in the distantly active Centaur (60558) 174P/Echeclus at 6 AU
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Kacper Wierzchos Physics
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(60558) 174P/Echeclus is an unusual object that belongs to a class of minor planets called Centaurs, which may be intermediate between Kuiper Belt Objects and Jupiter Family comets. It is sporadically active throughout its orbit at distances too far for water ice to sublimate, the source of activity for most comets. Thus, its coma must be triggered by another mechanism. In 2005, Echeclus had a strong outburst with peculiar behavior that raised questions about the nucleus homogeneity. In order to test nucleus models, we performed the most sensitive search to date for the highly volatile CO molecule via its J=2-1 emission toward Echeclus during 2016 May-June (at 6.1 astronomical units from the Sun) using the Arizona Radio Observatory 10-m Submillimeter Telescope. We obtained a 3.6-sigma detection with a slightly blue-shifted (delta v = -0.55 +- 0.1 km/s) and narrow (FWHM = 0.53 +- 0.23 km/s) line. The data are consistent with emission from a cold gas from the sunward side of the nucleus, as seen in two other comets at 6 AU. We derive a production rate of Q(CO) = (7.7 +- 3.3)x10^26 mol/s, which is capable of driving the estimated dust production rates. Echeclus CO outgassing rate is ~40 times lower than what is typically seen for another Centaur at this distance, 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1. We also used the IRAM 30-m telescope to search for the CO J=2-1 line, and derive an upper limit that is above the SMT detection. Compared to the relatively unprocessed comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp), Echeclus produces significantly less CO, as do Chiron and four other Centaurs.
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Context. Centaurs go around the Sun between the orbits of Jupiter and Neptune. Only a fraction of the known centaurs have been found to display comet-like features. Comet 29P/Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 is the most remarkable active centaur. It orbits the Sun just beyond Jupiter in a nearly circular path. Only a handful of known objects follow similar trajectories. Aims. We present photometric observations of 2020 MK4, a recently found centaur with an orbit not too different from that of 29P, and we perform a preliminary exploration of its dynamical evolution. Methods. We analyzed broadband Cousins R and Sloan g, r, and i images of 2020 MK4 acquired with the Jacobus Kapteyn Telescope and the IAC80 telescope to search for cometary-like activity, and to derive its surface colors and size. Its orbital evolution was studied using direct N-body simulations. Results. Centaur 2020 MK4 is neutral-gray in color and has a faint, compact cometary-like coma. The values of its color indexes, (g-r)=0.42+/-0.04 and (r-i)=0.17+/-0.04, are similar to the solar ones. A lower limit for the absolute magnitude of the nucleus is Hg=11.30+/-0.03 mag which, for an albedo in the range of 0.1-0.04, gives an upper limit for its size in the interval (23, 37) km. Its orbital evolution is very chaotic and 2020 MK4 may be ejected from the Solar System during the next 200 kyr. Comet 29P experienced relatively close flybys with 2020 MK4 in the past, sometimes when they were temporary Jovian satellites. Conclusions. We confirm the presence of a coma of material around a central nucleus. Its surface colors place this centaur among the most extreme members of the gray group. Although its past, present, and future dynamical evolution resembles that of 29P, more data are required to confirm or reject a possible connection between the two objects and perhaps others.
Activity of most comets near the Sun is dominated by sublimation of frozen water, the most abundant ice in comets. Some comets, however, are active well beyond the water-ice sublimation limit of ~3 AU. Three bodies dominate the observational record and modeling efforts for distantly active comets: the long-period comet C/1995 O1 Hale-Bopp and the short-period comets (with Centaur orbits) 29P/Schwassmann Wachmann 1 and 2060 Chiron. We summarize what is known about these three objects emphasizing their gaseous comae. We calculate their CN/CO and CO2/CO production rate ratios from the literature and discuss implications. Using our own data we derive CO production rates for all three objects, in order to examine a correlation between gas production and different orbital histories and/or size. We find that orbital history does not appear to play a significant role in explaining 29Ps CO production rates. 29P outproduces Hale-Bopp at the same heliocentric distance, even though it has been subjected to much more solar heating. Previous modeling work on such objects predicts that 29P should have been de-volatilized over a fresher comet like Hale-Bopp. This may point to 29P having a different orbital history than current models predict, with its current orbit acquired more recently. On the other hand, Chirons CO measurements are consistent with it being significantly depleted over its original state, perhaps due to increased radiogenic heating made possible by its much larger size or its higher processing due to orbital history. Observed spectral line profiles are consistent with development and sublimation of icy grains at about 5-6 AU for 29P and Hale-Bopp, and this is probably a common feature in distantly active comets, and an important source of volatiles for all comets within 5 AU. In contrast, the narrow CO line profiles indicate a nuclear, and not extended, origin for CO beyond ~4 AU.
The extremely thin atmosphere of Jupiters volcanic moon Io primarily consists of sulfur (S), sodium (Na), and oxygen (O) molecules that are controlled by the combination of the sublimation and volcanic outgasses. We present the first spectroscopic detection of the two rotational emission lines of acetone (CH$_{3}$COCH$_{3}$) and a single emission line of disulfur monoxide (S$_{2}$O), and carbon monoxide (CO) at frequency $ u$ = 346.539, 346.667, 346.543, and 345.795 GHz respectively using the archival data of high-resolution Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) interferometer with band 7 observation. All molecular species are detected with $ge$5$sigma$ statistical significance. Jupiters moon Io is the most volcanically active body in the solar system with a very thin and spatially variable atmosphere. The volcanic gas CH$_{3}$COCH$_{3}$, S$_{2}$O, and CO are mainly coming from volcanic plumes. The statistical column density of CH$_{3}$COCH$_{3}$ line is N(CH$_{3}$COCH$_{3}$) = 3.18$times$10$^{15}$ cm$^{-2}$ but for the cases of S$_{2}$O and CO, the column densities are N(S$_{2}$O) = 2.63$times$10$^{16}$ cm$^{-2}$ and N(CO) = 5.27$times$10$^{15}$ cm$^{-2}$ respectively. The carbon monoxide gas is mainly formed by the photolysis of the volcanic gas acetone.
Interstellar comets offer direct samples of volatiles from distant protoplanetary disks. 2I/Borisov is the first notably active interstellar comet discovered in our solar system[1]. Comets are condensed samples of the gas, ice, and dust that were in a stars protoplanetary disk during the formation of its planets and inform our understanding on how chemical compositions and abundances vary with distance from the central star. Their orbital migration moves volatiles[2], organic material, and prebiotic chemicals in their host system[3]. In our solar system, hundreds of comets have been observed remotely, and a few have been studied up close by space missions[4]. However, knowledge of extrasolar comets has been limited to what could be gleaned from distant, unresolved observations of cometary regions around other stars, with only one detection of carbon monoxide[5]. Here we report that the coma of 2I/Borisov contains significantly more CO than H2O gas, with abundances of at least 173%, more than three times higher than previously measured for any comet in the inner (<2.5 au) solar system[4]. Our ultraviolet observations of 2I/Borisov provide the first glimpse into the ice content and chemical composition of the protoplanetary disk of another star that is substantially different from our own.
Plutos icy surface has changed colour and its atmosphere has swelled since its last closest approach to the Sun in 1989. The thin atmosphere is produced by evaporating ices, and so can also change rapidly, and in particular carbon monoxide should be present as an active thermostat. Here we report the discovery of gaseous CO via the 1.3mm wavelength J=2-1 rotational transition, and find that the line-centre signal is more than twice as bright as a tentative result obtained by Bockelee-Morvan et al. in 2000. Greater surface-ice evaporation over the last decade could explain this, or increased pressure could have caused the atmosphere to expand. The gas must be cold, with a narrow line-width consistent with temperatures around 50 K, as predicted for the very high atmosphere, and the line brightness implies that CO molecules extend up to approximately 3 Pluto radii above the surface. The upper atmosphere must have changed markedly over only a decade since the prior search, and more alterations could occur by the arrival of the New Horizons mission in 2015.
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