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17 Jun 2002
A team of scientists, led by Johns Hopkins astrophysicist Harold Weaver, have detailed astonishing findings about comet Hale-Bopp. The findings, published in thejournal Science, are based on an unprecedented year-long series of cometary observations with the Hubble Space Telescope. p>Astronomers find that components in the frozen nucleus may be arranged in a more complicated manner than previously thought. Some models for a comet's nucleussuggest that trace components, such as carbon disulfide ice, are contained inside of the most abundant ice, frozen water. As water sublimates, or turns directly from afrozen solid into a gas, trace components and dust should be released at similar rates. But, to their surprise, astronomers found that water ice sublimated at a differentrate than the trace ices, implying that those components are not contained within the water. The astronomers also observed that the amount of dust leaving the nucleuswas much different than the sublimation rate of water, providing further support for the finding.
During the course of long-term observations of Hale-Bopp with the Hubble Space Telescope in September 1996, astronomers unexpectedly caught the comet goingthrough a sudden brief outburst; in little more than an hour the amount of dust being spewed from the nucleus increased at least eight-fold.
"The surface of Hale-Bopp's nucleus must be an incredibly dynamic place, with 'vents' being turned on and off as new patches of icy material are rotated intosunlight for the first time," Weaver said.
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