Comets and the History of Volatile Matter During Planetary System Formation

彗星和行星系统形成过程中挥发性物质的历史

• 批准号: 1211362
• 负责人: Boncho Bonev
• 金额: $ 17.77万
• 依托单位: Catholic University of America
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2012
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2012-09-01 至 2016-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1211362&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Comets; History; Volatile; Matter; During

This grant renewal will support high-resolution near-infrared spectroscopic studies of comets in order to test theories about the early formation of the solar system. Comets are remnants from the early solar system that retain the volatiles (ices) from the cold outer protoplanetary disk where they formed. The proposing team will characterize the cometary volatile composition in the near-infrared spectral domain, simultaneously searching for a number of parent molecules via multiple spectral lines of each species; these parent molecules include water, oxidized carbon compounds, symmetric hydrocarbons, and nitriles. They will also conduct complementary searches for deuterated water and deuterated methane in order to constrain the deutrerium-to-hydrogen ratio. The observations will help constrain chemical formation pathways for water and pre-biotic organic molecules in cometary ices, the evolution of volatile matter in the early Solar System, and exogenous delivery of water and pre-biotic molecules to Earth. The project will support undergraduate research and enable student participation in professional astronomical observing runs and in local and national conferences. Also, the team will contribute to the professional development of high-school science teachers in the Washington, DC and Saint Louis, MO metropolitan areas, by conducting a 45-hour workshop on "Comets, Origins, and Life: Interdisciplinary Science in the Secondary Classroom".

该赠款更新将支持彗星的高分辨率近红外光谱研究，以测试有关太阳系早期形成的理论。彗星是早期太阳系的残余物，它们从它们形成的冷外球星盘中保留了挥发物（ICE）。提出的团队将表征近红外光谱域中的彗星挥发性组成，同时通过每个物种的多个光谱线搜索许多父分子；这些母体分子包括水，氧化的碳化合物，对称碳氢化合物和硝酸盐。他们还将对氘化水和氘化的甲烷进行互补搜索，以限制氘与氢的比率。这些观察结果将有助于限制彗星冰中水和肉鸡前有机分子的化学形成途径，早期太阳系中挥发物的演变以及水和益生元分子的外源输送到地球。该项目将支持本科研究，并使学生能够参与专业的天文观察以及本地和民族会议。此外，该团队将通过举办45小时的“彗星，起源和生活：中学科学：中学科学：课堂”。