Comets and the History of Volatile Matter During Planetary System Formation

Catholic University Of America, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This grant renewal will support high-resolution near-infrared spectroscopic studies of comets in order to test theories about the early formation of the solar system. Comets are remnants from the early solar system that retain the volatiles (ices) from the cold outer protoplanetary disk where they formed. The proposing team will characterize the cometary volatile composition in the near-infrared spectral domain, simultaneously searching for a number of parent molecules via multiple spectral lines of each species; these parent molecules include water, oxidized carbon compounds, symmetric hydrocarbons, and nitriles. They will also conduct complementary searches for deuterated water and deuterated methane in order to constrain the deutrerium-to-hydrogen ratio. The observations will help constrain chemical formation pathways for water and pre-biotic organic molecules in cometary ices, the evolution of volatile matter in the early Solar System, and exogenous delivery of water and pre-biotic molecules to Earth. The project will support undergraduate research and enable student participation in professional astronomical observing runs and in local and national conferences. Also, the team will contribute to the professional development of high-school science teachers in the Washington, DC and Saint Louis, MO metropolitan areas, by conducting a 45-hour workshop on "Comets, Origins, and Life: Interdisciplinary Science in the Secondary Classroom".