Composition of cometary dust from polarization spectra

Abstract

The wavelength dependence of the polarization (“polarization spectra”) of cometary dust is discussed. It is shown that, in the case of large phase angles, the wavelength dependence of the polarization is mainly controlled by the complex refractive index of the particle material, whereas the spectral dependence of the intensity is also sensitive to the size of the particles. This suggests that observations of “polarization spectra” may determine the composition of cometary dust. An attempt is made to find the composition of the cometary dust material by comparing the observed polarimetric data with laboratory measurements of complex refractive indices of possible cometary constituents. Silicates, graphite, metals, organics, water ice and their mixtures are considered. It is shown that astronomical silicate must be the most abundant constituent of cometary dust in the range of heliocentric distances from 0.8 to 1.8 AU, whereas the volume fraction of pure graphite or pure metals is less then 1%. A substance similar to that of F-type asteroids may be present in comets. There is evidence for an organic material that is being destroyed between heliocentric distances of 0.8–1.8 AU.