Researchers from Russia, South Korea and the United States proposed a new method for the determination of residence time of the comets within the Solar system. It is based on measuring the amount of carbon in objects: the smaller, the celestial body is older. This conclusion, astrophysicists have done the study of the comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4), which is close to Earth in may 2020 and collapsed. The results are published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
ATLAS comet close to Earth in may 2020 and collapsed. This phenomenon could be observed from Earth. His research aroused great interest in the scientific community. Astronomers expected that the ATLAS will become the brightest comet this year — so bright that it can be seen from Earth with the naked eye. But instead of that celestial body was destroyed and the scientists were able to closely observe its disintegration.
“We started to photometric and polarimetric observations of the comet prior to its collapse — says one of the researchers, graduate student, School of natural Sciences FEFU Catherine black. — Because of this we were able to compare the composition of the coma before and during the destruction. In the process of disintegration, we were able to see a sharp increase in the positive branch of polarization. Modeling has shown that this corresponds to the high content of carbon particles”.
The authors of the new work has analyzed the composition of dust particles in the coma, shell and tail — comet ATLAS (C/2019 Y4) and showed that inside of a comet containing large amounts of carbonaceous matter. Scientists suggest that the amount of carbon in the coma of other comets can be an indicator of how much time they spent in the Solar system. Thus, the more carbon, the less the comet has spent close to the Sun, and Vice versa.
Before the ATLAS appeared in the Solar system 5476 time in years, he took long-period comets, which are rarely closer to the Sun, and therefore rarely hot. Such comets are of particular interest to researchers because they have in its structure a large number of “canned” stuff, which was formed in the early stages of formation of the Solar system. This substance becomes available to explore from the Ground, when it begins to evaporate under the action of solar radiation. The often near-Sun comets such substance is almost gone.
