Spectroscopic identification of water emission from a main-belt comet.

ABSTRACT: Main-belt comets are small Solar System bodies located in the asteroid belt that repeatedly exhibit comet-like activity (that is, dust comae or tails) during their perihelion passages, strongly indicating ice sublimation^1,2. Although the existence of main-belt comets implies the presence of extant water ice in the asteroid belt, no gas has been detected around these objects despite intense scrutiny with the world's largest telescopes³. Here we present James Webb Space Telescope observations that clearly show that main-belt comet 238P/Read has a coma of water vapour, but lacks a significant CO₂ gas coma. Our findings demonstrate that the activity of comet Read is driven by water-ice sublimation, and implies that main-belt comets are fundamentally different f

SUBMITTER: Kelley MSP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10371862 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature