Lovejoy releases three times more HDO after solar encounter

[Michael Mozina]

http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/NASA_ ... t_999.html

The scientists compared their findings from the Keck observations with another team's observations made before the comet reached perihelion, using both space- and ground-based telescopes, and found an unexpected difference: After perihelion, the output of HDO was two to three times higher, while the output of H2O remained essentially constant. This meant that the D-to-H ratio was two to three times higher than the values reported earlier.

This was definitely already a very interesting encounter between a comet and the sun, but the change of the HDO ratios makes it even more interesting.

[willendure]

Implying that the water is being created by protons blasting OH out of the rocky or dusty surface, with sufficient energy that some of the H is turned to D?

[moonkoon]

The detection of a variable hydrogen/deuterium ratio on comet Lovejoy lends credibility to the idea of the presence of an active realtime hydrogen/deuterium production process, ...perhaps some type of elemental disintergration/fission. A fission process seems more likely that a fusion process, in my opinion at least.

I currently favour silicon as the raw material for this proposed process because of its unusual electrical and radiogenic properties. I also suspect that some forms of silica here on earth, rotten quartz for instance, may be the result of a similar process at some stage in the earth's history.