85 citations · 291 across the 13 of their papers we have counts for
16 papers
A JWST Study of Stardust. II. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Comet 81P/Wild 2 and Implications for Primitive Solar System Carbon
Nathan X. Roth, Stefanie N. Milam, Diane H. Wooden +11
We report observations of comet 81P/Wild 2, target of the Stardust sample return mission, on UT 2023 March 20 and 24 at a heliocentric distance () of 1.85 au using the NIRSpec…
JWST Reveals Refractory-Rich Water Ice in Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS: Evidence for a Continuum of Grain Properties across Protoplanetary Disks
Silvia Protopapa, Michael S. P. Kelley, Martin A. Cordiner +12
We present JWST/NIRSpec PRISM observations of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS obtained on 2025 August 6 (Epoch 1), 2025 December 22 (Epoch 2), and 2026 April 1 (Epoch 3), spanning…
High water D/H ratio of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS is consistent with a low-metallicity origin
Kenji Furuya, Martin Cordiner, Dominique Bockelée-Morvan +5
Recent JWST observations have revealed unusually high C/C ratios in carbon-bearing molecules of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, consistent with formation in a lower…
JWST Spatial-Spectral Mapping of Green Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF)
Stefanie N. Milam, Nathan X. Roth, Geronimo L. Villanueva +9
We report a survey of molecular emission from cometary volatiles using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) toward Oort cloud comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) carried out on UT 2023 February…
A JWST Study of Stardust. I. Infrared Spectroscopy of Comet 81P/Wild 2 and Overall Composition
Nathan X. Roth, Stefanie N. Milam, Diane H. Wooden +11
We report observations of comet 81P/Wild 2, target of the Stardust sample return mission, on UT 2023 March 20 and 24 at a heliocentric distance () of 1.85 au using the NIRSpec…
JWST and Gemini Observations of the Active Centaur 450P/LONEOS: Nucleus and Coma Characterizations
Charles A. Schambeau, Michael S. P. Kelley, Maria Womack +16
Between 2019 and 2024, we used the Gemini-N and JWST observatories to conduct a detailed case study of the active Centaur 450P/LONEOS, whose orbit was significantly altered by a cl…
JWST reveals anomalously enhanced methane outgassing from below Chiron's water ice and carbon dioxide bearing surface
Ian Wong, Silvia Protopapa, Aurélie Guilbert-Lepoutre +7
Centaurs are inward-scattered Kuiper belt objects, with some exhibiting comet-like activity. The physical mechanisms powering this activity remain poorly understood, with carbon mo…
Isotopic Evidence for a Cold and Distant Origin of the Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS
Martin Cordiner, Nathan X. Roth, Marco Micheli +16
Interstellar objects provide the only directly observable samples of icy planetesimals formed around other stars, and can therefore provide insight into the diversity of physical a…
Coma Physics of an Interstellar Object: JWST Spatial-Spectral Mapping of 3I/ATLAS
Nathan X. Roth, Martin A. Cordiner, Stefanie N. Milam +17
We report a survey of molecular emission from cometary volatiles using the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) toward interstellar object 3I/ATLAS carried out on UT 2025 December 22…
An Enriched Methane D/H Ratio in the Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS
Nathan X. Roth, Martin Cordiner, Stefanie Milam +15
Interstellar objects are interlopers from other planetary systems, and their volatile compositions provide a glimpse into planet formation around their host star. We present near-i…
Unveiling the ice and gas nature of active centaur (2060) Chiron using the James Webb Space Telescope
N. Pinilla-Alonso, J. Licandro, R. Brunetto +15
(2060) Chiron is a large centaur that has been reported active on multiple occasions including during aphelion passage. Studies of Chirons coma during active periods have resulted…
Mapping the release of volatiles in the inner comae of comets C/2012 F6 (Lemmon) and C/2012 S1 (ISON) using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array
M. A. Cordiner, A. J. Remijan, J. Boissier +13
Results are presented from the first cometary observations using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA), including measurements of the spatially-resolved distribut…
The chemical composition of CO-rich comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) at Rh = 2.4 and 2.0 AU before perihelion
L. Paganini, M. J. Mumma, G. L. Villanueva +4
We quantified ten parent volatiles in comet C/2009 P1 (Garradd) before perihelion, through high-dispersion infrared spectra acquired with CRIRES at ESO's VLT on UT 2011 August 07 (…
Temporal and Spatial Aspects of Gas Release During the 2010 Apparition of Comet 103P/Hartley-2
M. J. Mumma, B. P. Bonev, G. L. Villanueva +10
We report measurements of eight primary volatiles (H2O, HCN, CH4, C2H6, CH3OH, C2H2, H2CO, and NH3) and two product species (OH and NH2) in comet 103P/Hartley-2 using high dispersi…
Swift UVOT Grism Spectroscopy of Comets: A First Application to C/2007 N3 (Lulin)
D. Bodewits, G. L. Villanueva, M. J. Mumma +3
We observed comet C/2007 N3 (Lulin) twice on UT 28 January 2009, using the UV grism of the Ultraviolet and Optical Telescope (UVOT) on board the Swift Gamma Ray Burst space observa…
The unusual volatile composition of the Halley-type comet 8P/Tuttle: Addressing the existence of an Inner Oort Cloud
H. Boehnhardt, M. J. Mumma, G. L. Villanueva +4
We measured organic volatiles (CH4, CH3OH, C2H6, H2CO), CO, and water in comet 8P/Tuttle, a comet from the Oort cloud reservoir now in a short-period Halley-type orbit. We compare…