The Carbon Content in Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko from Rosetta/ROSINA
Abstract
The European Space Agency's Rosetta mission visited comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P/C-G) for an in depth investigation of its nucleus and surrounding coma. Several payload instruments were dedicated to measure the relative abundances of molecules and atoms in both the gas and solid phase.
Here we will present a collection of carbon-bearing species in the volatile phase obtained from the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) mass spectrometer in the coma of comet 67P/C-G. From these results we estimate relative elemental abundances of carbon and other major elements in the ice phase of the comet's nucleus. Combined with published results of the elemental abundances in the refractory phase, i.e. the dust collected in the coma of 67P/C-G by the Comet Secondary Ion Mass Spectrometer (COSIMA), it is possible to estimate relative abundances of the major elements including carbon inside the nucleus for comparison with other solar system objects and to study the partitioning of these elements among the refractory material and the ices of the comet. Similar to Halley's comet, 67P/C-G does not seem to be depleted in carbon and oxygen, but is deficient in nitrogen with respect to solar system abundances. Most of the carbon resides in organics in the refractory phase. Compared to other solar system bodies, comets have preserved more of the original composition of the accreted and condensed material forming our solar system. This is emphasized by the fact that relative abundances of carbon-bearing compounds in 67P/C-G are similar to ISM abundances. Acknowledgements All ROSINA data are the work of the international ROSINA team (scientists, engineers and technicians from Switzerland, France, Germany, Belgium and the US) over the past 25 years, which we herewith gratefully acknowledge. Rosetta is an ESA mission with contributions from its member states and NASA.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFM.P43C3489R
- Keywords:
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- 6008 Composition;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: COMETS AND SMALL BODIES;
- 6045 Physics and chemistry of materials;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: COMETS AND SMALL BODIES;
- 6207 Comparative planetology;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTS;
- 5410 Composition;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLID SURFACE PLANETS