Chemical Composition of the Semi-Volatile Grains of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

Rosetta was in orbit of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from August 2014 to September 2016. On board is the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) experiment that has been continuously collecting data on the chemical composition and activity of the coma from 3.5 AU to pericentre at 1.24 AU and out again to 3.5 AU. ROSINA consists of two mass spectrometers, the Double Focusing Mass Spectrometer (DFMS) and the Reflectron-type Time-Of-Flight (RTOF), as well as the COmet Pressure Sensor (COPS). ROSINA recorded the neutral gas and thermal plasma in the comet's coma. The two mass spectrometers have high dynamic ranges and complement each other with high mass resolution, and high time resolution and large mass range. COPS measures total gas densities, bulk velocities, and gas temperatures. Occasionally, a dust grain of cometary origin enters the ion source of a ROSINA instrument where the volatile part evaporates since these ion sources are hot. The release of volatiles from cometary dust grains was observed with all three ROSINA instruments on several occasions. Because the volatile content of such a dust grain is completely evaporated after a few seconds, the RTOF instrument is best suited for the investigation of its chemical composition since complete mass spectra are recorded during this time. During the mission 9 dust grains were observed with RTOF during the October 2014 to July 2016 time period. It is estimated that these grains contain about 10-15 g of volatiles. The mass spectra were interpreted with a set of 75 molecules, with the major groups of chemical species being hydrocarbons, oxygenated hydrocarbons, nitrogen-bearing molecules, sulphur-bearing molecules, halogenated molecules and others. About 70% of these grains are depleted in water compared to the comet coma, thus, can be considered as semi-volatile dust grains, and the other about 30% are water grains. The chemical composition varies considerably from grain to grain, indicating large chemical heterogeneity at these scales. In contrast, the elemental abundances vary much less.