Dry ice and carbon monoxide detected on asteroids beyond Neptune
Based on new infrared observations by the Webb Space Telescope, scientists have detected for the first time carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide on asteroids beyond Neptune. From the abstract of their paper:
Out of 59 [trans-Neptunian objects] and centaur [asteriods] observed by the James Webb Space Telescope and the NIRSpec Integral Field Unit as part of the DiSCo-TNOs project, we report the widespread detection of CO2 ice in 95% of the sample and CO ice in 47% of the sample.
It appears dry ice is ubiquitous in the outer solar system. Since it is believed these asteroids are very primitive, this data suggests there was a lot of it in the early solar system when the planets were forming.
The discovery of so much carbon monoxide is however more puzzling, as it is expected to sublimate away even in the very cold environment so far from the Sun and is therefore likely not from the early solar system. The scientists posit that it might have been produced when radiation transformed the other carbon-bearing ices.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Based on new infrared observations by the Webb Space Telescope, scientists have detected for the first time carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide on asteroids beyond Neptune. From the abstract of their paper:
Out of 59 [trans-Neptunian objects] and centaur [asteriods] observed by the James Webb Space Telescope and the NIRSpec Integral Field Unit as part of the DiSCo-TNOs project, we report the widespread detection of CO2 ice in 95% of the sample and CO ice in 47% of the sample.
It appears dry ice is ubiquitous in the outer solar system. Since it is believed these asteroids are very primitive, this data suggests there was a lot of it in the early solar system when the planets were forming.
The discovery of so much carbon monoxide is however more puzzling, as it is expected to sublimate away even in the very cold environment so far from the Sun and is therefore likely not from the early solar system. The scientists posit that it might have been produced when radiation transformed the other carbon-bearing ices.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The print edition can be purchased at Amazon. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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