First JWST spectrum of distant activity in Long Period Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos)
Abstract
We observed the new Long Period Comet C/2024 E1 (Wierzchos), inbound at 7 au from the Sun, using the NIRSpec integral field unit on JWST. The spectrum shows absorption features due to water ice in the coma and evidence for CO2 driven activity, with a production rate of Q(CO2) = 2.546 0.019 × 1025 molecules s-1, and no emission features of water or CO. The latter is surprising, given that CO is more volatile than CO2, and suggests that this comet may have lost its near-surface CO during its early evolution, before implantation in the Oort cloud.
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