The Composition of Dust in Jupiter-Family Comets as Inferred from Infrared Spectroscopy

TL;DR

This paper reviews infrared spectroscopic studies of Jupiter-family comet dust, revealing weak silicate features, crystalline silicate abundances, and heterogeneity in dust properties, with implications for comet formation and composition.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive synthesis of infrared spectroscopy findings on Jupiter-family comet dust, highlighting the role of porosity and heterogeneity in their composition.

Findings

Jupiter-family comets have weak silicate emission features similar to Oort Cloud comets.

Crystalline silicate abundances are comparable or lower than in Oort Cloud comets.

Evidence of heterogeneity in dust properties within comet nuclei.

Abstract

We review the composition of Jupiter-family comet dust as inferred from infrared spectroscopy. We find that Jupiter-family comets have 10 micron silicate emission features with fluxes roughly 20-25% over the dust continuum (emission strength 1.20-1.25), similar to the weakest silicate features in Oort Cloud comets. We discuss the grain properties that change the silicate emission feature strength (composition, size, and structure/shape), and emphasize that thermal emission from the comet nucleus can have significant influence on the derived silicate emission strength. Recent evidence suggests that porosity is the dominant parameter, although more observations and models of silicates in Jupiter-family comets are needed to determine if a consistent set of grain parameters can explain their weak silicate emission features. Models of 8 m telescope and Spitzer Space Telescope observations have shown that Jupiter-family comets have crystalline silicates with abundances similar to or less than those found in Oort Cloud comets, although the crystalline silicate mineralogy of comets 9P/Tempel and C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) differ from each other in Mg and Fe content. The heterogeneity of comet nuclei can also be assessed with mid-infrared spectroscopy, and we review the evidence for heterogeneous dust properties in the nucleus of comet 9P/Tempel. Models of dust formation, mixing in the solar nebula, and comet formation must be able to explain the observed range of Mg and Fe content and the heterogeneity of comet 9P/Tempel, although more work is needed in order to understand to what extent do comets 9P/Tempel and Hale-Bopp represent comets as a whole.