On the nights immediately following the mysterious Tunguska event, which destroyed a tract of Siberian wilderness in 1908, eyewitnesses reported seeing noctilucent clouds—brilliant night-visible clouds made up of ice particles that form rarely and only at very high altitudes. Recently, noctilucent clouds have been observed on the nights following launches of rockets that release large amounts of water vapor into the upper atmosphere. This shows that it was a comet impact and not the impact of an asteroid that caused the destruction in Siberia.
The argument depends on assuming which one of the following?The argument says:
after the Tunguska event, people saw noctilucent clouds.
Recently, noctilucent clouds have also appeared after rockets released large amounts of water vapor high in the atmosphere.
So, the Tunguska event must also have released large amounts of water vapor, and therefore it must have been a comet, not an asteroid.
The key missing link is that
a comet impact would release such water vapor, while an asteroid impact would not. Without that, the conclusion does not follow.
(A) Comets but not asteroids release large amounts of water vapor into the upper atmosphere when they collide with Earth.
This is correct. The argument needs exactly this assumption. Only then does the presence of noctilucent clouds support “comet rather than asteroid.”
(B) Noctilucent clouds are visible for many consecutive nights following the release of water vapor into the upper atmosphere.
This is not required. The argument only needs the clouds to appear after such a release, not for many nights.
(C) Comets collide with Earth more frequently than asteroids do.
This is irrelevant. Frequency of collision has nothing to do with the reasoning here.
(D) Eyewitnesses have reported seeing noctilucent clouds after asteroids have collided with Earth.
This would weaken the argument, not support it.
(E) The fact that noctilucent clouds are made of ice particles in the upper atmosphere was only recently discovered.
This is irrelevant. The timing of that discovery does not matter.
Answer: (A)