American Astronomers have looked at Comet C/2014 Q2 , known as Lovejoy , and light upon something quite strange : The amount of a rarified type of urine within the comet increased as the ice rock moved past its closelipped power point to the Sun .
You see , water comes in unlike shape and it depends on the isotope of the elements that make it . Normal water , H20 , is made of oxygen and atomic number 1 , but if we switch atomic number 1 for heavy hydrogen atoms we have sullen H2O , HDO .
By measuring the amount of HDO and H20 the researchers were able to estimate the heavy hydrogen - to - atomic number 1 ( vitamin D - to - henry ) ratio , a chemical ID that tells astronomers where comet formed in the Early Solar System . The squad measured the D - to - hydrogen value just after the comet ’s perihelion – the point of the cranial orbit of a planet or comet that is nearest to the Sun – and then compared this result with previous observations from when the comet was further from the Sun .
It appear that the D - to - heat content economic value was two to three times higher after go along near the Sun than before , with the comet releasing more HDO while the amount of H20 remained unchanged . This outcome , published in theAstrophysical Journal Letters , was unexpected .
“ The change we saw with this comet is surprising , and highlights the want for reprize measurements of cholecalciferol - to - H in comet at different positions in their orbits to realize all the entailment , ” lead author Lucas Paganini , a researcher with the Goddard Center for Astrobiology , said in astatement .
“ If the D - to - total heat value change with time , it would be deceptive to assume that comet contributed only a small fraction of Earth ’s water compare to asteroids , specially , if these are based on a exclusive measurement of the D - to - H economic value in cometic water . ”
This determination might reopen the debate on the line of Earth ’s water . Geological evidence suggests that the water mostly camefrom the mantleand the D - to - total heat proportion of comet istoo high , compared to Earth ’s urine . The researchers suggest that the high ratio ( and the alteration ) might be due to the high - zip process from the Sun , as well as chemically altering mechanisms on the comet ’s surface .
Normal water is 1,500 times more abundant than HDO on Comet Lovejoy , so gauge the accurate cause of the change is difficult . comet may or may not have add to the hydrosphere , and it ’s light that we need to know much more to make a sagacity .
