Activity of Comets Constrains the Chemistry and Structure of the Protoplanetary Disk
Recent data of molecular clouds and protoplanetary disks constrain the composition and structure of the disk and planetesimals. Laboratory experiments suggest that dust accretion in disks stops at pebble sizes. Sublimation and recondensation of water ice at the disk water-snow line suggest that pebb...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2022-08-01
|
| Series: | Universe |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/8/8/417 |
| _version_ | 1797431644091580416 |
|---|---|
| author | Marco Fulle |
| author_facet | Marco Fulle |
| author_sort | Marco Fulle |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Recent data of molecular clouds and protoplanetary disks constrain the composition and structure of the disk and planetesimals. Laboratory experiments suggest that dust accretion in disks stops at pebble sizes. Sublimation and recondensation of water ice at the disk water-snow line suggest that pebbles split into water-rich and water-poor ones. The same conclusion has been recently reached by models of cometary activity consistent with the structure of porous Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs) and of porous dust collected by the Stardust and Rosetta missions. The observation of crystalline water ice in protoplanetary disks by the Herschel satellite, the erosion of comets, and the seasonal evolution of the nucleus color require that the two pebble families have a water-ice mass fraction close to 33% and 2%, respectively. Here, we show that the diversity of comets is thus due to random mixtures with different area fractions <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mi>A</mi><mi>p</mi></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mi>A</mi><mi>r</mi></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> of water-poor and water-rich pebbles, predicting most of the data observed in comets: why the deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio in cometary water correlates to the ratio <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mi>A</mi><mi>p</mi></msub><mo>/</mo><msub><mi>A</mi><mi>r</mi></msub></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>, which pebbles dominate the activity of Dynamically New Comets (DNCs), what is the origin of cometary outbursts, why comets cannot be collisional products, and why the brightness evolution of DNCs during their first approach to the Sun is actually unpredictable. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T09:48:09Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c1390b9c99834fd0929653894bfea053 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2218-1997 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T09:48:09Z |
| publishDate | 2022-08-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Universe |
| spelling | doaj.art-c1390b9c99834fd0929653894bfea0532023-12-02T00:24:27ZengMDPI AGUniverse2218-19972022-08-018841710.3390/universe8080417Activity of Comets Constrains the Chemistry and Structure of the Protoplanetary DiskMarco Fulle0INAF–Osservatorio Astronomico di Trieste, Via Tiepolo 11, I-34143 Trieste, ItalyRecent data of molecular clouds and protoplanetary disks constrain the composition and structure of the disk and planetesimals. Laboratory experiments suggest that dust accretion in disks stops at pebble sizes. Sublimation and recondensation of water ice at the disk water-snow line suggest that pebbles split into water-rich and water-poor ones. The same conclusion has been recently reached by models of cometary activity consistent with the structure of porous Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs) and of porous dust collected by the Stardust and Rosetta missions. The observation of crystalline water ice in protoplanetary disks by the Herschel satellite, the erosion of comets, and the seasonal evolution of the nucleus color require that the two pebble families have a water-ice mass fraction close to 33% and 2%, respectively. Here, we show that the diversity of comets is thus due to random mixtures with different area fractions <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mi>A</mi><mi>p</mi></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> and <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><msub><mi>A</mi><mi>r</mi></msub></semantics></math></inline-formula> of water-poor and water-rich pebbles, predicting most of the data observed in comets: why the deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio in cometary water correlates to the ratio <inline-formula><math xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="inline"><semantics><mrow><msub><mi>A</mi><mi>p</mi></msub><mo>/</mo><msub><mi>A</mi><mi>r</mi></msub></mrow></semantics></math></inline-formula>, which pebbles dominate the activity of Dynamically New Comets (DNCs), what is the origin of cometary outbursts, why comets cannot be collisional products, and why the brightness evolution of DNCs during their first approach to the Sun is actually unpredictable.https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/8/8/417cometsactivitydusticesprotoplanetary diskpebbles |
| spellingShingle | Marco Fulle Activity of Comets Constrains the Chemistry and Structure of the Protoplanetary Disk Universe comets activity dust ices protoplanetary disk pebbles |
| title | Activity of Comets Constrains the Chemistry and Structure of the Protoplanetary Disk |
| title_full | Activity of Comets Constrains the Chemistry and Structure of the Protoplanetary Disk |
| title_fullStr | Activity of Comets Constrains the Chemistry and Structure of the Protoplanetary Disk |
| title_full_unstemmed | Activity of Comets Constrains the Chemistry and Structure of the Protoplanetary Disk |
| title_short | Activity of Comets Constrains the Chemistry and Structure of the Protoplanetary Disk |
| title_sort | activity of comets constrains the chemistry and structure of the protoplanetary disk |
| topic | comets activity dust ices protoplanetary disk pebbles |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2218-1997/8/8/417 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT marcofulle activityofcometsconstrainsthechemistryandstructureoftheprotoplanetarydisk |