Comets can be a boozy beast.They arrive here from the outer Solar System, get some warmth, and then start releasing alcoholic compounds into the air.Comet 46P/Wirtanen visited the inner Solar System in 2018. It takes the martini. An analysis of the atmosphere (or coma) revealed that it was emitting an "abnormally large" amount of alcohol.This can reveal some interesting facts about the evolution and future of the Solar System.Neil Dello Russo, a Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory cometary scientist, stated that 46P/Wirtanen had one of the highest alcohol to-aldehyde ratios ever measured in any comet. This information provides us with information about the distribution of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen molecules in the early Solar System, where Wirtanen was formed.Comet 46P/Wirtanen visits the inner Solar System quite often. It orbits the Sun approximately every 5.4 years and occasionally appears so close to Earth it can be seen in the night sky.It was within 11.6 Million Kilometers (7.2 Million Miles) of Earth on its most recent visit in December 2018. This is approximately 30 times the distance between Earth and Moon.Astronomers made the most of this opportunity to observe this comet from close quarters using the Keck Observatory’s recently-upgraded Near-Infrared Spectrographs (NIRSPEC).This instrument collects data from the sun that shines through the comet's atmosphere, which scientists can use to analyze the data and determine its chemical composition.The information contained in cometary comas can reveal a lot about our Solar System's early and outer Solar System. Comets are different from asteroids because they contain all kinds of frozen compounds, ices, that were trapped in them during formation. This is why they are called "dirty snowball".These ices are frozen for most of a comet’s orbit. But, when it gets close enough to the Sun's warmth, the ices begin to melt, dislodging dust, and creating a dusty gaseous envelope.This material forms the comet's dust tails and gas, which flow away from the Sun because of radiation pressure and solar wind.This material, which has been frozen in a comet since the Solar System's birth, contains information about the composition and origin of the cloud that formed the Solar System.NIRSPEC spent just 10 to 20 minutes detecting the composition of 46P/Wirtanen's coma. It consisted of acetylene and ammonia.NIRSPEC data can also show the temperature of the Coma. Scientists found something very strange. Evidence was found that there was more heat than can be explained by the Sun.Erika Gibb, an astronomer at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, stated that "We found the temperature measured in water gas in the Coma did not decrease significantly by distance from the nucleus," which suggests a heating mechanism.Although it is not clear what the heating mechanism might be, there are many possibilities.One possibility is that the sun's radiation may have ionized the molecules near the cometary nucleus. This would lead to the release of energetic electrons. These electrons could come into contact with other molecules, transferring energy that is then released as heat.Another possibility is that the comet was broken off by solid chunks or grains of ice. This caused the nucleus to tumbling away, before sublimating, and then releasing energy through collisions in the cooler clouds at that distance. This model is supported by the fact that water was found in the outer coma at a higher percentage than other compounds.This could help to explain how water may have been transported to Earth. The water ice may subliminate at the comet but it could return to liquid or form ice when it lands on a new planet.Comets also contain other ingredients that are essential for life. These dirty snowballs may be crucial not only for our existence but for all life in the Universe."Comet studies such as this are very exciting, because they provide a platform for the million-dollar question, are we alone? Greg Doppmann, an astronomer at Keck Observatory."The organic compounds found on comets can tell us which ingredients made up our solar system and were precursors to life. These prebiotic molecules can be found in other planet systems. This opens up the possibility that we might find microbial life elsewhere than Earth in our children's lifetimes.The Planetary Science Journal published the research.
