Scientists pursue research through observation, experimentation and modeling. They strive for all of these pieces to fit together, but sometimes finding the unexpected is even more exciting. That's what happened to University of Central Florida's astrophysicist Gal Sarid, who studies comets, asteroids and planetary formation and earlier this year was part of a team that published a study focused on the comet 174P/Echeclus. It didn't behave the way the team was expecting.
"This is another clue that Echeclus is a bizarre solar system object," said University of South Florida physics research Professor Maria Womack, who leads the team.
Comets streak across the sky and as they get closer to the sun look like bright fuzz balls with extended luminous trails in their wake. However, comets are actually bulky spheres of mixed ice and rock, many of them also rich in other frozen volatile compounds, such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrogen cyanide and methanol.
Comets heat up as they get closer to the sun, losing their icy layers by sublimation and producing emission jets of water vapor, other gases and dust expelled from the comet nucleus, Sarid said. Once they move away from the sun, they cool off again. But some comets start showing emission activity while still very far from the sun, where heating is low.
That's what Sarid and Womack research as they study these kinds of distantly active comets. Womack and graduate student Kacper Wierzchos used the Arizona Radio Observatory Submillimeter telescope to observe Echeclus last year as it approached the sun. This work will be part of Wierzchos' doctoral dissertation in applied physics at USF. Sarid provided theoretical expertise for interpreting the observational results.
Echeclus is part of the population of objects called centaurs, which have orbits around the sun at distances between that of Jupiter and Neptune. It is also part of a special group within the centaurs, which sometimes exhibit comet-like activity. Previous research indicated that Echeclus might have been spewing carbon monoxide as its icy material changed phases.
The team found that the levels of carbon monoxide were nearly 40 times lower than typically expected from other comets at similar distances from the sun. This suggests that Echeclus and similar active Centaurs may be more fragile than other comets. Echeclus may have gone through a different physical process from most comets that caused it to lose a lot of its original carbon monoxide, or it may have had less of that substance to begin with.
Understanding the composition of comets and how they work will help researchers understand how our solar system was formed. It will also aid space explorers plan for their travels - things to avoid and perhaps hidden resources found within the nucleus of comets that may be useful on deep space missions.
"These are minor bodies that we are studying, but they can provide major insights," Sarid said. "We believe they are rich in organics and could provide important hints of how life originated."
Sarid is determined to solve the puzzle. This week he hosts a group of comet experts at UCF to discuss the mysterious activity of Echeclus and other similar bodies. The idea for the workshop is to capitalize on the local expertise in observation, laboratory and theoretical work that is required to fully understand the mysteries of active comets at great distances from the sun. The inaugural Florida Distant Comets workshop was held a year ago at USF.
"I guess I've always liked challenges," Sarid said from his office at the Florida Space Institute at UCF, where he spends his days trying to decipher the models and mathematical equations related to his work.
Sarid has a Ph.D. in geophysics and planetary Sciences from Tel Aviv University in Israel and completed postdoctoral work at the Institute for Astronomy and the NASA Astrobiology Institute in Hawaii, followed by a second postdoctoral research appointment at Harvard University. He was a part of a team that used the telescopes in Hawaii for several years chasing comets and asteroids for NASA observing campaigns and space missions before joining UCF in 2014.
He teamed up with Womack in 2016 and on this most recent study provided theoretical expertise for interpreting the observational results. The National Science Foundation funds the project, under a grant awarded to USF, with Womack as the principal investigator and Sarid as a co-investigator.
They will continue to look at centaur-type comets and measure the level of their carbon monoxide emission and related activity.
Research Report
With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.
Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.
If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
Excerpt from:
Bizarro comet challenging researchers - Space Daily
- Comet - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - November 21st, 2013 [November 21st, 2013]
- Comets - The Nine Planets - November 21st, 2013 [November 21st, 2013]
- Comets - Astronomy For Kids - KidsAstronomy.com - November 21st, 2013 [November 21st, 2013]
- Views of the Solar System: Comets - November 21st, 2013 [November 21st, 2013]
- Comets (extra footage) - Video - November 21st, 2013 [November 21st, 2013]
- Solar flare update. 6 comets! Nov 28th ISON perihelion! - Video - November 21st, 2013 [November 21st, 2013]
- Comets game 2end goal - Video - November 21st, 2013 [November 21st, 2013]
- Missouri Comets vs. Milwaukee Wave - Video - November 21st, 2013 [November 21st, 2013]
- Football: Comets Advance Past Momence - Video - November 21st, 2013 [November 21st, 2013]
- Caliber Cheer Comets Nov 9 2013 - Video - November 21st, 2013 [November 21st, 2013]
- Two Comets Are About to Fly By Mercury | NASA Space Science HD Video - Video - November 21st, 2013 [November 21st, 2013]
- Comets win on tiebreaker - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Comets fend off Wildcat attack - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Free throws bring Comets down - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Comets continue solid play on their home ice - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Comets Beat Heat 4-2 - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Comets in the Community - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Comets pick up third straight win over Heat - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Comets Welcome Back Old Rival - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Comets Cool Abbotsford 4-2 - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Comets – Facts and Information about Comets | Space.com - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Comets v Wave 121313 Highlights - Video - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Highlights - Comets vs. Monsters 12/15/13 - Video - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Weekly Space Hangout - Preventing Asteroids, More Comets, Worldview Balloon - Video - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Pens 1 - Comets 0 - Video - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Milwaukee Waves Cheap Shot Vs. Missouri Comets - 12.13.13 - Video - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Hometown Nights - Tarso Miller and the Wild Comets - Video - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Hangout with Comets Nova and Deathlyhall - Video - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Comets vs St. Louis Ambush - Video - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Shake, Rattle and Roll Bill Haley and His Comets - Sheet Music - Easy Alto Sax Version - Video - December 20th, 2013 [December 20th, 2013]
- Comets Shut Out Heat 3-0 - December 21st, 2013 [December 21st, 2013]
- Administration - December 21st, 2013 [December 21st, 2013]
- Bill Haley And His Comets ' R-O-C-K' 78 rpm - Video - December 21st, 2013 [December 21st, 2013]
- Bill Haley And His Comets ' The Saints Rock 'N Roll' 78 rpm - Video - December 21st, 2013 [December 21st, 2013]
- Nicklas Jensen's Shootout Winning Deke 12-15-13 - Video - December 21st, 2013 [December 21st, 2013]
- Missouri Comets Night with Miles - 12.13.13 - Video - December 21st, 2013 [December 21st, 2013]
- 12/13/13 Comets 5 vs. Senators 2 - Video - December 21st, 2013 [December 21st, 2013]
- Comets rock Bulldogs for first win - December 22nd, 2013 [December 22nd, 2013]
- Comets Deposit Life's Building Blocks Across the Cosmos!(Dr.Ruehl) - Video - December 22nd, 2013 [December 22nd, 2013]
- Comets beat AHL rival Abbotsford again with shutout - December 23rd, 2013 [December 23rd, 2013]
- Comets Win Streak Grows to Four Games - December 23rd, 2013 [December 23rd, 2013]
- Comets Corner: On the Mask - December 23rd, 2013 [December 23rd, 2013]
- 'Comets of the Centuries': 500 Years of the Greatest Comets Ever Seen - December 23rd, 2013 [December 23rd, 2013]
- Hackensack High School (NJ) Football Home - MaxPreps.com - December 23rd, 2013 [December 23rd, 2013]
- Little Comets - Isles (Music Video) - Video - December 23rd, 2013 [December 23rd, 2013]
- Comets Have Two Players on MISL Team of Week - December 25th, 2013 [December 25th, 2013]
- ONE FOR THE RECORD DECEMBER 20 2013 21 FUKUSHIMA COMETS EARTHQUAKES NMR GZ PAUL AND BP - Video - December 25th, 2013 [December 25th, 2013]
- Comets in the Community: Christmas at St. Luke's - December 26th, 2013 [December 26th, 2013]
- Best comets of last 500 years - December 26th, 2013 [December 26th, 2013]
- STRANGE EVENTS In 2013 Earthquakes, Mass Animal Deaths, Extreme Weather, OORT Cloud Comets - Video - December 26th, 2013 [December 26th, 2013]
- Utica Comets " 'Twas the Night" - Video - December 26th, 2013 [December 26th, 2013]
- Missouri Comets vs. Rochester Lancers - Video - December 26th, 2013 [December 26th, 2013]
- Chasing Comets: In search of secrets about our origins - Video - December 26th, 2013 [December 26th, 2013]
- DREAM X2 COMETS/STARS FLYING OVERHEAD, MASSIVE SONIC BOOMS EARTH HIT POSSIBLY. - Video - December 26th, 2013 [December 26th, 2013]
- What are comets? - Video - December 26th, 2013 [December 26th, 2013]
- Game Preview: Syracuse Silver Knights at Missouri Comets and St. Louis Ambush - December 27th, 2013 [December 27th, 2013]
- Clark's performance boosts Clayton over Moss Point - December 27th, 2013 [December 27th, 2013]
- Gameday: Comets vs. Binghamton - December 27th, 2013 [December 27th, 2013]
- Comets Battle for First Place - December 27th, 2013 [December 27th, 2013]
- Gameday: Comets vs. Hamilton - December 28th, 2013 [December 28th, 2013]
- Comets fall to Senators - December 28th, 2013 [December 28th, 2013]
- Comets end winning streak - December 28th, 2013 [December 28th, 2013]
- Comets vs Syracuse Silver Knights - Video - December 28th, 2013 [December 28th, 2013]
- Winning Comets Soccer - Video - December 28th, 2013 [December 28th, 2013]
- Comets Lose in Final Minutes - December 29th, 2013 [December 29th, 2013]
- CometsTV: 12-27-13 Utica Comets vs. Binghamton Senators Highlights - Video - December 29th, 2013 [December 29th, 2013]
- Comets knock off Aquin for second time this season - December 31st, 2013 [December 31st, 2013]
- Comets fall after late rally - December 31st, 2013 [December 31st, 2013]
- CometsTV: 12-28-13 Utica Comets vs. Hamilton Bulldogs Highlights - Video - December 31st, 2013 [December 31st, 2013]
- Comets Corner: Kellan Lain - January 1st, 2014 [January 1st, 2014]
- Comets Welcome New Year - January 1st, 2014 [January 1st, 2014]
- Comets Media Game 2013 - Video - January 1st, 2014 [January 1st, 2014]
- 1957 AMI H200 playing Bill Haley and his Comets Rock Around The Clock. - Video - January 1st, 2014 [January 1st, 2014]
- 7 Amazing Christmas Kinder Surprise Eggs SMURFS cars, comets Unwrapping Review Chocolate Easter Toys - Video - January 1st, 2014 [January 1st, 2014]
- Shootout - Dogs @ Comets - 12/2813 - END - Video - January 1st, 2014 [January 1st, 2014]
- Shootout - Dogs @ Comets - 12/2813 - Video - January 1st, 2014 [January 1st, 2014]
- Catonsville girls basketball shows promise for another strong season - January 2nd, 2014 [January 2nd, 2014]
- Gameday: Comets vs. Lake Erie - January 2nd, 2014 [January 2nd, 2014]
- Comets Kick off New Year with Exciting Win - January 2nd, 2014 [January 2nd, 2014]
- Comets Remain Hot at Home with 3-2 Decision over Lake Erie - January 2nd, 2014 [January 2nd, 2014]