The coma dust of comet C/2013 US₁₀ (Catalina): A window into carbon in the solar system

Comet C/2013 US₁₀ (Catalina) was a dynamically new Oort cloud comet whose apparition presented a favorable geometry for observations near close-Earth approach (;0.93 au) at heliocentric distances ≲2 au when insolation and sublimation of volatiles drive maximum activity. Here we present mid-infrared 6.0 ≲ λ(μm) ≲ 40 spectrophotometric observations at two temporal epochs from NASA’s Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy and the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility that yield an inventory of the refractory materials and their physical characteristics through thermal modeling analysis. The grain composition is dominated by dark dust grains (modeled as amorphous carbon) with a silicate-to-carbon ratio ≲0.9, little crystalline stoichiometry (no distinct 11.2 μm feature attributed to Mg-rich crystalline olivine), and the submicron grain-size distribution peaking at;0.6 μm. The 10 μm silicate feature was weak, ≈12.8% ± 0.1% above the local continuum, and the bolometric grain albedo was low (≲14%). Comet C/2013 US₁₀ (Catalina) is a carbon-rich object. This material, which is well represented by the optical constants of amorphous carbon, is similar to the material that darkens and reddens the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. We argue this material is endemic to the nuclei of comets, synthesizing results from the study of Stardust samples, interplanetary dust particle investigations, and micrometeoritic analyses. The atomic carbon-to-silicate ratio of comet C/2013 US₁₀ (Catalina) and other comets joins a growing body of evidence suggesting the existence of a C/Si gradient in the primitive solar system, providing new insight into planetesimal formation and the distribution of isotopic and compositional gradients extant today.