Carbonates and clays in Tempel I: Science report.

[exoscientist]

We discussed on this forum before the observations of Lisse et.al. that the Deep Impact mission showed carbonates and clays within Temple I.<br />The results have now been published in Science:<br /><br />Scientists Gaining Clearer Picture of Comet Makeup and Origin<br />by Staff Writers<br />Laurel MD (SPX) Jul 16, 2006<br />"From its orbit, Spitzer's infrared spectrograph closely observed the materials ejected from Tempel 1 when Deep Impact's probe dove into the comet's surface. Astronomers spotted the signatures of solid chemicals never seen before in comets, such as carbonates (chalk) and smectite (clay), metal sulfides (such as fool's gold), and carbon-containing molecules called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, commonly found in barbecue grills or automobile exhaust on Earth.<br />"Lisse said the clay and carbonates were surprises because they typically require liquid water to make - and liquid water isn't found in the regions of deep space where comets form. Also surprising was the superabundance of crystalline silicates, material formed only at red-hot temperatures found inside the orbit of Mercury."<br />http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Scientists_Gaining_Clearer_Picture_of_Comet_Makeup_and_Origin_999.html<br /><br />Spitzer Spectral Observations of the Deep Impact Ejecta.<br />Published Online July 13, 2006<br />Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1124694<br />http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/1124694v1<br /><br /><br />Bob Clark <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[3488]

I am not at all surprised. Stardust found crystalline silicates at Comet Wild 2. <br /><br />Both comets formed on the very edge of the solar system, where it was (& still is) dark & very cold. When the sun ignited during its T Tauri phase, the solar wind pushed these chemicals outwards, where they collided with the comets in the outer solar system. The crystalline silicates, did form at very high temperatures, close to the sun, but where driven outwards, when the sun fired up.<br /><br />The clays & carboates are interesting though. Could they not form in crystalline ice? <br /><br />I certainly look forward to seeing further developments with this. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080">"I suddenly noticed an anomaly to the left of Io, just off the rim of that world. It was extremely large with respect to the overall size of Io and crescent shaped. It seemed unbelievable that something that big had not been visible before".</font> <em><strong><font color="#000000">Linda Morabito </font></strong><font color="#800000">on discovering that the Jupiter moon Io was volcanically active. Friday 9th March 1979.</font></em></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://www.launchphotography.com/</font><br /><br /><font size="1" color="#000080">http://anthmartian.googlepages.com/thisislandearth</font></p><p><font size="1" color="#000080">http://web.me.com/meridianijournal</font></p> </div>