ALBERT

Description: Deuterated water (HDO) was detected in comet C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp) with the use of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The inferred D/H ratio in Hale-Bopp's water is (3.3 +/- 0.8) x 10(-4). This result is consistent with in situ measurements of comet P/Halley and the value found in C/1996 B2 (Hyakutake). This D/H ratio, higher than that in terrestrial water and more than 10 times the value for protosolar H2, implies that comets cannot be the only source for the oceans on Earth.

Description: Deuterated hydrogen cyanide (DCN) was detected in a comet, C/1995 O1 (Hale-Bopp), with the use of the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii. The inferred deuterium/hydrogen (D/H) ratio in hydrogen cyanide (HCN) is (D/H)HCN = (2.3 +/- 0.4) x 10(-3). This ratio is higher than the D/H ratio found in cometary water and supports the interstellar origin of cometary ices. The observed values of D/H in water and HCN imply a kinetic temperature 〉/=30 +/- 10 K in the fragment of interstellar cloud that formed the solar system.

Description: Here we report the combination of new near-ir spectra (1.45-2.48 micrometers), of Titania and Oberon obtained in September 1995 at a resolving power of approx. 800, with older near-ir observations (0.5- 1.44 micrometers), and recent UV (0.22-0.48 micrometers) observations obtained with HST. Previous interpretations suggest these surfaces are chiefly composed of water ice and varying amounts of spectrally neutral material. The new near-ir data provide the opportunity to search for absorption bands that could be attributable to surface materials other than water ice and because the combined spectra include such a broad wavelength region, to undertake improved models of water and neutral components on the surface. The calculated near-ir geometric albedos clearly exhibit three broad spectral features. Two (1.52- & 2.05 micrometer) have previously been used to demonstrate the presence of water ice on these satellites. The third (approx. 1.65 micrometer), suggests the presence of hexagonal water ice at low temperatures, and may provide a mechanism of estimating the surface temperature. There is no spectral evidence for ices of CO2, CO, NH3 or CH4. At UV wavelengths there is a broad absorption near 0.27-0.28 micrometer previously attributed to OH formed by magnetospheric-surface interactions and retained at the low surface temperatures of these satellites. Surface components used in a Hapke scattering models include values for a combination of irradiated water ice in the UV and hexagonal water ice at 100k in the near-ir (IR), amorphous carbon (AC), and tholins (T) (produced from gas and solid). Results of these models suggest the surfaces of Titania/Oberon are composed of IW (-77/52%) with AC the next most abundant component (approx. 19/52%) and finally T (approx. 4/7%).