U.S.-Australia Cooperative Research: Carbon Isotopes in Comets

该奖项将支持亚利桑那州立大学坦佩分校的彼得·A·韦辛格博士和山上的布鲁斯·A·彼得森博士之间的合作研究。澳大利亚国立大学斯特龙洛和斯丁泉天文台，堪培拉。研究人员打算通过确定明亮彗星样本中的碳同位素丰度比，并将其与哈雷彗星中的碳同位素丰度比进行比较，来揭示星际物质的新信息；并通过观察明亮的O型和B型恒星视线中分子和分子离子的吸收线来确定本地星际介质中的丰度比。彗星丰度比是数百万年前星际物质的特征，将对这两种测量结果进行比较，以阐明星际物质演化的本质。该项目结合了两名研究人员的专业知识，他们都是从天文测量中确定光谱的专家，他们共同努力研究了哈雷山本身的同位素丰度比。澳大利亚的斯特龙洛天文台。除了提供有关星际物质组成的新信息外，这项研究还有望在解释同位素光谱技术方面取得进展。

This award will support collaborative research between Dr. Peter A. Wehinger of Arizona State University, Tempe, and Dr. Bruce A. Peterson of the Mt. Stromlo and Siding Spring Observatories of the Australian National University, Canberra. The investigators intend to uncover new information about interstellar matter by determining the carbon isotopic abundance ratio in a sample of bright comets, and comparing that ratio to that in comet Halley; and to determine the abundance ratio in the local interstellar medium by observing absorption lines of molecules and molecular ions in the lines-of-sight of bright O- and B-type stars. Cometary abundance ratios are characteristic of the interstellar matter millions of years ago, and the two measurements will be compared, in order to illuminate the nature of the evolution of the interstellar matter. The project combines the expertise of the two investigators, both of whom are experts in the determination of spectra from astronomical measurements, and who have worked together to study the isotopic abundance ratio of Halley itself, at the Mt. Stromlo Observatory in Australia. In addition to giving providing new information about the composition of interstellar matter, advances in techniques for interpreting isotopic spectra may be expected from this research.