Tootfinder

Alkali phenoxides in comets
M. Fulle, P. Molaro, A. Rotundi, L. Tonietti, A. Aletti, L. Buzzi, P. Valisa
https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.02343 https://

Alkali phenoxides in comets
Potassium was first detected in spectra of the sungrazer comet Ikeya-Seki at the heliocentric distance rh = 0.15 au and, 48 years later, in comets PanSTARRS and ISON at rh = 0.46 au. The alkali tail photoionization model provides a Na/K ratio close to the solar value. No lithium was detected in any comet: the lower limit of the Na/Li ratio was almost one order of magnitude greater than the solar ratio. Here we searched for the emissions of the alkali NaI, KI, and LiI in Comets C/2020 F3 and C/2…