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Heterogeneous outgassing regions identified on active centaur 29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann 1

Nature Astronomy volume 8, pages 1237–1245 (2024)Cite this article

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Abstract

Centaurs are transitional objects between primitive trans-Neptunian objects and Jupiter-family comets. Their compositions and activities provide fundamental clues regarding the processes affecting the evolution of and interplay between these small bodies. Here we report observations of centaur 29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann 1 (29P) with the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST). We identified localized jets with heterogeneous compositions driving the outgassing activity. We employed the NIRSpec mapping spectrometer to study the fluorescence emissions of CO and obtain a definitive detection of CO2 for this target. The exquisite sensitivity of the instrument also enabled carbon and oxygen isotopic signatures to be probed. Molecular maps reveal complex outgassing distributions, such as jets and anisotropic morphology, which indicate that 29P’s nucleus is dominated by active regions with heterogeneous compositions. These distributions could reflect that it has a bilobate structure with compositionally distinct components or that strong differential erosion takes place on the nucleus. As there are no missions currently planning to visit a centaur, these observations demonstrate JWST’s unique capabilities in characterizing these objects.

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Fig. 1: Infrared spectra of centaur 29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann 1 as measured with JWST/NIRSpec.
Fig. 2: Morphologies of the CO and CO2 outgassing jets.

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Data availability

The data used in this analysis are publicly available from STScI’s JWST archive (https://mast.stsci.edu/), cycle 1 GO, programme 2416 (ref. 53).

Code availability

The retrieval software package used in this study was PSG, which is free and available online at https://psg.gsfc.nasa.gov (refs. 56,57). The data-reduction scripts are available at https://github.com/nasapsg. Figures were made with Matplotlib v.3.2.1 (ref. 60), which is available under the Matplotlib licence at https://matplotlib.org/ (ref. 99).

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by NASA’s Goddard Astrobiology Program, Goddard’s Fundamental Laboratory Research (FLaRe) and the Sellers Exoplanet Environments Collaboration. M.W. acknowledges the support received while serving at the US National Science Foundation. This work is based on observations made with the NASA/ESA/CSA JWST. The data were obtained from the Mikulski Archive for Space Telescopes at STScI, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc., under NASA contract NAS 5-03127 for JWST. These observations are associated with the cycle 1 GO, programme 2416.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    Sara Faggi, Geronimo L. Villanueva & Michael A. DiSanti

  2. American University, Washington, DC, USA

    Sara Faggi

  3. Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, USA

    Adam McKay

  4. Auburn University, Auburn, AL, USA

    Olga Harrington Pinto

  5. University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA

    Olga Harrington Pinto, Maria Womack, Charles A. Schambeau & Yanga R. Fernandez

  6. University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA

    Michael S. P. Kelley, Lori Feaga & James M. Bauer

  7. LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, Université Paris Cité, CNRS, Meudon, France

    Dominique Bockelée-Morvan & Nicolas Biver

  8. National Science Foundation, Alexandria, VA, USA

    Maria Womack

  9. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Kacper Wierzchos

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Contributions

S.F. and G.L.V. analysed the data, extracted the calibrated spectra, produced the maps and performed the retrievals. A.M., PI of the observing proposal and the team, designed the observations and prepared the observational plans. D.B.-M. and N.B. assisted with the interpretation of the results by providing context related to other astronomical investigations and IRAM data. All authors contributed to the interpretation of the results and the preparation, writing and editing of the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Sara Faggi.

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Faggi, S., Villanueva, G.L., McKay, A. et al. Heterogeneous outgassing regions identified on active centaur 29P/Schwassmann–Wachmann 1. Nat Astron 8, 1237–1245 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02319-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02319-3

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