Comets

Comet C/2020 F3 NEOWISE seen from the Earth and its coma seen by Hubble (Image NASA, ESA, Q. Zhang (California Institute of Technology), A. Pagan (STScI), and Z. Levay)

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The Hubble Space Telescope was used to observe comet NEOWISE, formally C/2020 F3, which notably shows the coma surrounding its nucleus. The images released were captured on August 8, and are the first photos taken by Hubble of such a bright comet at such a high resolution after it passed close to the Sun. On July 3, NEOWISE passed approximately 43 million kilometers from the Sun, the most critical moment because sometimes comets are torn to pieces. The new images show that this time the comet survived in its entirety and will return to the inner solar system only in 7,000 years.

The interstellar comet 2I/Borisov seen by ALMA

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An article published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” reports a study on the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov focused in particular on its chemical composition which highlights the abundance of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide. A team of researchers led by Martin Cordiner and Stefanie Milam of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center used the ALMA radio telescope to examine the comet’s emissions detecting that carbon monoxide is present in its coma in an amount that is between 9 and 26 times that estimated for the solar system’s comets. This suggests that it formed in a very cold area of ​​its origin system.

Salts of ammonium chloride (Photo courtesy University of Bern)

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Two articles published in the journal “Nature Astronomy” report the results of as many analyzes of data collected by ESA’s Rosetta space probe which reveal the presence of compounds such as ammonium salts on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. A team of researchers led by Kathrin Altwegg of the University of Bern, Switzerland, analyzed the data trying to understand the reasons for the scarcity of nitrogen on the comet, concluding that its presence is actually difficult to detect because a part is tied to ammonium salts. These salts are among the building blocks of molecules that include some precursors of life such as urea and glycine, already found on the comet. Another team discovered in the data traces of aliphatic compounds, considered essential for life on Earth, on the comet.

New confirmations that phosphorus was brought to Earth by comets

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An article to be published in the journal “Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society” reports a study tracing the journey of phosphorus from star formation to comets. A team of researchers led by Víctor Rivilla of the Italian National Institute of Astrophysics used the ALMA radio telescope and data collected by ESA’s Rosetta space probe’s ROSINA instrument on comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko to understand where phosphorus is formed and how comets may have brought it to Earth, where it’s needed by life forms.

Interstellar comet 2I/Borisov seen from the Keck Observatory

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A new photo of interstellar comet 2I/Borisov taken using a spectrometer at the Keck Observatory in Hawaii is now the best obtained so far and can offer new information on this object that is going through the solar system. Astronomers Pieter van Dokkum, Cheng-Han Hsieh, Shany Danieli and Gregory Laughlin of Yale University captured this image on November 24 and it includes the comet’s tail, shown in its length of nearly 160,000 kilometers in a composition that puts together 2I/Borisov and the Earth.