F. Peter Schloerb

There are two basic approaches to the study of the origin of the solar system. One may choose to study the objects in our own solar system in the hopes of discovering properties that tell us something about how they formed. Alternatively, one might choose to search for objects elesewhere in the galaxy that are solar systems in formation and attempt to learn about the processes at work there. My research has emphasized both of these approaches.

Comets are thought to represent the most pristine samples of material left over from the formation of the solar system. Thus, their composition holds important clues about the physical processes at work during this time. At millimeter and submillimeter wavelengths, it has become possible to observe the molecular constituents of cometary ices as they sublimate from the nucleus, and one of my main research interests is in detecting these molecular constituents and understanding their behavior in the comae of comets. My students and I go to several telescopes, including our own FCRAO 14m millimeter-wave telescope, to make these observations when bright comets appear.

Cometary observations have shown that there is a striking similarity between the composition of comets and the composition of the icy mantles observed on interstellar grains. This has led to an appreciation that the physical processes at work in the interstellar medium are similar to those that were operating during the formative stages of the solar system, and some investigators even speculate that this similarity arises because interstellar grain mantles survived accretion into the solar system and were incorporated into comets. In either case, study of the chemistry and physical processes at work in interstellar clouds may well lead to an improved understanding of the origins of the molecules observed in comets and the physical conditions under which they were formed. My colleages and I have been using the FCRAO telescope equipped with the 15-element QUARRY array to map a wide range of molecular species - including important cometary species - in order to probe these conditions.

Recent Publications

• "The Study of Comets at Radio Wavelengths," Crovisier, J. and Schloerb, F.P. in Comets in the Post-Halley Era (R. Newburn Jr. ed.), Kluwer Publishing, p. 149 (1991).

• "A Source Model for the L134N Molecular Cloud," Swade, D.A. and Schloerb, F.P., Astrophys. J., 392, 345 (1992).

• "Submillimeter Molecular Line Observations of Comet Levy (1990c),"Schloerb, F.P. and Ge, W. in Asteroids, Comets, Meteors 1991 (A. Harris and E. Bowell, eds.) 533 (1992).

Last Update: 5/23/1993