The similarity of the interstellar comet 2I/Borisov to solar system comets from high resolution optical spectroscopy

TL;DR

This study used high-resolution optical spectroscopy to analyze the composition of interstellar comet 2I/Borisov, finding it remarkably similar to solar system comets in chemical composition and physical properties.

Contribution

First detailed high-resolution spectroscopic analysis of 2I/Borisov, revealing its composition closely resembles that of solar system comets, providing insights into interstellar comet characteristics.

Findings

Detected water production rate of 2.2×10^{26} molecules/s near perihelion.

Measured NH2 ortho-to-para ratio indicating a spin temperature of about 31 K.

Identified emission lines consistent with solar system comet compositions.

Abstract

2I/Borisov - hereafter 2I - is the first visibly active interstellar comet observed in the solar system, allowing us for the first time to sample the composition of a building block from another system. We report on the monitoring of 2I with UVES, the high resolution optical spectrograph of the ESO Very Large Telescope at Paranal, during four months from November 15, 2019 to March 16, 2020. Our goal is to characterize the activity and composition of 2I with respect to solar system comets. We collected high resolution spectra at 12 different epochs from 2.1 au pre-perihelion to 2.6 au post perihelion. On December 24 and 26, 2019, close to perihelion, we detected several OH lines of the 309 nm (0-0) band and derived a water production rate of $2.2\pm0.2 \times 10^{26}$ molecules/s. The three [OI] forbidden oxygen lines were detected at different epochs and we derive a green-to-red doublet intensity ratio (G/R) of $0.31\pm0.05$ close to perihelion. NH$_2$ ortho and para lines from various bands were measured and allowed us to derive an ortho-to-para ratio (OPR) of $3.21\pm0.15$, corresponding to an OPR and spin temperature of ammonia of $1.11\pm0.08$ and $31^{+10}_{-5}$ K, respectively. These values are consistent with the values usually measured for solar system comets. Emission lines of the radicals NH (336 nm), CN (388 nm), CH (431 nm), and C$_2$ (517 nm) were also detected. Several FeI and NiI lines were identified and their intensities were measured to provide a ratio of log (NiI/FeI) = $0.21\pm0.18$ in agreement with the value recently found in solar system comets. Our high spectral resolution observations of 2I/Borisov and the associated measurements of the NH$_2$ OPR and the Ni/Fe abundance ratio are remarkably similar to solar system comets. Only the G/R ratio is unusually high but consistent with the high abundance ratio of CO/H$_2$O found by other investigators.