Vibrational Spectroscopy of Parent Volatiles in Comets: Spectral Frontiers and Critical Needs for Relevant Molecular Parameters

Details Vibrational Spectroscopy of Parent Volatiles in Comets: Spectral Frontiers and Critical Needs for Relevant Molecular Parameters Vibrational Spectroscopy of Parent Volatiles in Comets: Spectral Frontiers and Critical Needs for Relevant Molecular Parameters

May 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009aas...21424201m&link_type=abstract

American Astronomical Society, AAS Meeting #214, #242.01; Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, Vol. 41, p.744

Astronomy and Astrophysics

Astronomy

Scientific paper

Today, as many as ten parent volatile species are measured simultaneously in infrared spectra of comets, but their interpretation is sometimes challenged by inaccurate or unavailable molecular parameters. These are essential for identifying a specific molecular emitter and for quantifying its abundance by comparing the observed line intensities with excitation models. This difficulty will become more severe in the near future, as cross-dispersed echelle spectrometers with very high resolving power come on line (e.g., iSHELL at the NASA IRTF). Somewhat farther downstream, future large telescopes (30-meter class) will provide a ten-fold increase in collecting area and the potential for important advances in cometary and planetary science.
With such new facilities, major advances are expected in three areas of cometary science: 1. The suite of detected parent volatiles will be extended to less abundant species (e.g., C2H4, the hypothesized intermediate in hydrogenating C2H2 to C2H6). 2. The accuracy of nuclear spin temperatures will be greatly improved, providing a sensitive measure of this cosmogonic parameter for diverse parent volatiles (H2O, NH3, CH4, H2CO, etc.) in many comets, and further constraining the origin and subsequent evolution of these primitive materials. 3. The extension of compositional measurements to isotopologues of the more abundant parent volatiles will provide key insights into their origins by comparing isotopic ratios (D/H, 14N/15N, 12C/13C, etc.) in comets with predictions based on models for interstellar and nebular processing.
An expanded and vigorous laboratory program in fundamental molecular spectroscopy and structure is needed, to ensure full exploitation of these new frontiers.

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