{"id":389,"date":"2021-05-21T08:34:07","date_gmt":"2021-05-21T08:34:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pscsolaruk.com\/blog\/?p=389"},"modified":"2021-05-21T08:34:07","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T08:34:07","slug":"metal-atoms-have-surprisingly-been-discovered-in-the-frigid-atmosphere-of-the-first-known-interstellar-comet-to-visit-our-solar-system-a-new-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pscsolaruk.com\/blog\/metal-atoms-have-surprisingly-been-discovered-in-the-frigid-atmosphere-of-the-first-known-interstellar-comet-to-visit-our-solar-system-a-new-study-finds\/","title":{"rendered":"Metals found in the atmospheres of comets in and beyond our solar system surprise scientists"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Metal atoms have surprisingly been discovered in the frigid atmosphere of the first known interstellar comet to visit our solar<\/a> system, a new study finds.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u00a9 Provided by Space<\/span>\u00a0This image of comet C\/2016 R2 (PANSTARRS) was captured from ESO’s SPECULOOS telescope at the Paranal Observatory in Chile.<\/span><\/span>Astronomers have also detected metal in the cold haloes surrounding comets local to the\u00a0solar system<\/a>, which suggest our solar system comets and the interstellar visitor may have similar origins, researchers add.<\/p>
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Comets<\/a>, which are made up of dust and ice left over from planetary formation, could yield key clues to the chemistry of early planetary systems. Scientists often deduce the composition of comets by examining the clouds of gas and dust known as comas that surround the hearts of comets.<\/p>\n

Scientists typically do not detect metals such as\u00a0nickel<\/a>\u00a0in 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\u00a0the sun<\/a>, when temperatures can readily exceed the 800 degrees Fahrenheit (425 degrees Celsius) needed for nickel vapor to form.<\/p>

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Now scientists have detected nickel atoms in the coma of the first known interstellar comet,\u00a02I\/Borisov<\/a>. 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\u00a01I\/’Oumuamua<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The discovery was unexpected \u2014 when astronomers first saw these nickel atoms in January using the\u00a0Very Large Telescope<\/a>\u00a0in Chile, 2I\/Borisov was far from the sun, with an estimated temperature of minus 135 degrees F (minus 93 degrees C). They detailed\u00a0their findings<\/a>\u00a0in the May 20 issue of the journal Nature.<\/p>

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In\u00a0an independent study<\/a>\u00a0also appearing in the May 20 issue of Nature, astronomers discovered gaseous nickel and iron in the cold comas of about 20 solar system comets of many different types. The wavelengths of light from these metals they detected using the Very Large Telescope were hidden in plain sight, mingled among the spectrum of light from other molecules in the comas.<\/p>\n

The amount of\u00a0iron<\/a>\u00a0and nickel these comets released was small \u2014 only about 1 gram per second, compared with the roughly 220 lbs. (100 kilograms) of water per second the comets produced. Coincidentally, the amount of nickel these comets each produced per second was almost exactly the nickel content of a U.S. five-cent coin, or nickel.<\/p>

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