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Published Online July 13, 2006
Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1124694

Research Articles

Submitted on January 6, 2006
Accepted on June 13, 2006

Spitzer Spectral Observations of the Deep Impact Ejecta

C. M. Lisse 1*, J. VanCleve 2, A. C. Adams 2, M. F. Ahearn 3, Y. R. Fernández 4, T. L. Farnham 3, L. Armus 5, C. J. Grillmair 5, J. Ingalls 5, M. J. S. Belton 6, O. Groussin 3, L. A. McFadden 3, K. J. Meech 7, P. H. Schultz 8, B. C. Clark 9, L. M. Feaga 3, J. M. Sunshine 3

1 Planetary Exploration Group, Space Department, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, 11100 Johns Hopkins Road, Laurel, MD 20723, USA; Astronomy Department, University of Maryland, CSS 2341, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
2 Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corporation, 1600 Commerce Street, Boulder, CO 80306, USA.
3 Astronomy Department, University of Maryland, CSS 2341, College Park, MD 20742, USA.
4 Department of Physics,University of Central Florida, P.O. Box 162385, Orlando, FL 32816-2385, USA.
5 Spitzer Space Science Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91125, USA.
6 Belton Space Exploration Initiatives, LLC, 430 Randolph Way, Tucson, AZ, 85716, USA.
7 Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, 2680 Woodlawn Drive, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
8 Department of Geological Sciences, Brown University, Providence, RI 02912-1846, USA.
9 Space Exploration Systems, Lockheed Martin, Denver, CO 80201, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
C. M. Lisse , E-mail: carey.lisse{at}jhuapl.edu

Spitzer Space Telescope imaging spectrometer observations of comet 9P/Tempel 1 during the Deep Impact encounter returned detailed, highly structured 5 - 35 µm spectra of the ejecta. Emission signatures due to amorphous silicates and carbon, and crystalline silicates, carbonates, phyllosilicates, PAHS, water gas/ice, sulfides were found. Good agreement is seen between the ejecta spectra and the material emitted from comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) and the circumstellar material around the young stellar object HD100546. The atomic abundance of the observed material is consistent with solar and C1 abundances, and the D/G ratio was determined to be = 1.3. The presence of the observed mix of materials requires efficient methods of annealing amorphous silicates, and mixing of high- and low-temperature phases over large distances in the early proto-solar nebula.


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