Organic Components of Small Bodies in the Outer Solar System: Some Results of the New Horizons Mission
| Autor: | William M. Grundy, Dale P. Cruikshank, Yvonne J. Pendleton |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2020 |
| Předmět: |
Solar System
Kuiper Belt object 010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences protoplanetary disk Review Protoplanetary disk 01 natural sciences Charon General Biochemistry Genetics and Molecular Biology Astrobiology Atmosphere New Horizons Arrokoth 0103 physical sciences lcsh:Science 010303 astronomy & astrophysics Ecology Evolution Behavior and Systematics Refractory (planetary science) 0105 earth and related environmental sciences complex organics Pluto Paleontology Accretion (astrophysics) solar nebula Space and Planetary Science lcsh:Q Formation and evolution of the Solar System Space environment |
| Zdroj: | Life, Vol 10, Iss 126, p 126 (2020) Life |
| ISSN: | 2075-1729 |
| Popis: | The close encounters of the Pluto–Charon system and the Kuiper Belt object Arrokoth (formerly 2014 MU69) by NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft in 2015 and 2019, respectively, have given new perspectives on the most distant planetary bodies yet explored. These bodies are key indicators of the composition, chemistry, and dynamics of the outer regions of the Solar System’s nascent environment. Pluto and Charon reveal characteristics of the largest Kuiper Belt objects formed in the dynamically evolving solar nebula inward of ~30 AU, while the much smaller Arrokoth is a largely undisturbed relic of accretion at ~45 AU. The surfaces of Pluto and Charon are covered with volatile and refractory ices and organic components, and have been shaped by geological activity. On Pluto, N2, CO and CH4 are exchanged between the atmosphere and surface as gaseous and condensed phases on diurnal, seasonal and longer timescales, while Charon’s surface is primarily inert H2O ice with an ammoniated component and a polar region colored with a macromolecular organic deposit. Arrokoth is revealed as a fused binary body in a relatively benign space environment where it originated and has remained for the age of the Solar System. Its surface is a mix of CH3OH ice, a red-orange pigment of presumed complex organic material, and possibly other undetected components. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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