Is the Missing Ultra-Red Material Colorless Ice?

TL;DR

This paper investigates whether the lack of ultra-red coloration in Jupiter family comets, compared to their transneptunian origins, can be explained by sublimation of volatile ices that carry the red color.

Contribution

It introduces radiative transfer models demonstrating how sublimation of volatile ice alters surface coloration from red to darker tones.

Findings

Mixtures of volatile ice and organics can be extremely red.

Sublimation causes surfaces to become darker and less red.

Color loss correlates with ice sublimation in the models.

Abstract

The extremely red colors of some transneptunian objects and Centaurs are not seen among the Jupiter family comets which supposedly derive from them. Could this mismatch result from sublimation loss of colorless ice? Radiative transfer models show that mixtures of volatile ice and nonvolatile organics could be extremely red, but become progressively darker and less red as the ice sublimates away.