Comets and the History of Volatile Matter During Planetary System Formation

这笔拨款的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，保留了形成彗星的寒冷外原行星盘的挥发物（冰）。提议的团队将在近红外光谱域描述彗星的挥发性成分，同时通过每个物种的多条谱线寻找许多母体分子；这些母体分子包括水、氧化碳化合物、对称碳氢化合物和腈。他们还将对氘化水和氘化甲烷进行补充搜索，以限制氘氢比。这些观测将有助于限制彗星冰中水和生命前有机分子的化学形成途径，早期太阳系挥发物的演化，以及水和生命前分子向地球的外源输送。该项目将支持本科生的研究，并使学生能够参与专业的天文观测活动以及地方和国家会议。此外，该团队将通过举办为期45小时的“彗星、起源和生命：中学课堂中的跨学科科学”研讨会，为华盛顿特区和密苏里州圣路易斯市的高中科学教师的专业发展做出贡献。

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".