Leveraging the ALMA Atacama Compact Array for Cometary Science

Nathan Roth

NASA Research Associate
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
The Catholic University of America -Department of Physics

Wed, October 13, 2021 - 4:00 PM
Karl Herzfeld Auditorium of Hannan Hall - Rm 108

Comets are among the most primitive remnants of solar system formation, and decoding the composition of their nuclei can reveal important clues to the formation history and evolution of the solar system. State-of-the-art millimeter/sub-millimeter interferometers, such as the Northern Extended Millimeter Array (NOEMA) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/Sub-millimeter Array (ALMA), have enabled sampling the coma composition of comets at millimeter wavelengths with high spatial and spectral resolution, providing unparalleled insights into coma photochemistry and physics. The high spatial resolution of the main 12 m ALMA array is complemented by the short baselines of the 7 m Atacama Compact Array (ACA), providing sensitivity to extended molecular flux present for many coma volatiles that may be resolved out by the 12 m array. I will discuss recent work demonstrating the power of standalone ACA cometary studies for probing coma photochemistry and testing for rapid variations in coma outgassing.

 

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