Carbon-rich dust in comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko measured by COSIMA/Rosetta




Anaïs Bardyn, Donia Baklouti, Hervé Cottin, Nicolas Fray, Christelle Briois, John Paquette, Oliver Stenzel, Cécile Engrand, Henning Fischer, Klaus Hornung, Robin Isnard, Yves Langevin, Harry Lehto, Léna Le Roy, Nicolas Ligier, Sihane Merouane, Paola Modica, François-Régis Orthous-Daunay, Jouni Rynö, Rita Schulz, Johan Silén, Laurent Thirkell, Kurt Varmuza, Boris Zaprudin, Jochen Kissel, Martin Hilchenbach

2017

Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society

469

Supplement: 2

S712

S722

11

0035-8711

1365-2966

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stx2640

https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/469/Suppl_2/S712/4670835

https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/38995976



Cometary ices are rich in CO2, CO and organic volatile
compounds, but the carbon content of cometary dust was only measured for
the Oort Cloud comet 1P/Halley, during its flyby in 1986. The COmetary
Secondary Ion Mass Analyzer (COSIMA)/Rosetta mass spectrometer
analysed dust particles with sizes ranging from 50 to 1000 μm, collected
over 2 yr, from 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P), a Jupiter family
comet. Here, we report 67P dust composition focusing on the elements C
and O. It has a high carbon content (atomic |${\rm{C}}/{\rm{Si}} = 5.5{\rm{\ }}_{ - 1.2}^{ + 1.4}\ \ {\rm{on\ average}}$ |⁠)
close to the solar value and comparable to the 1P/Halley data. From
COSIMA measurements, we conclude that 67P particles are made of nearly
50 per cent organic matter in mass, mixed with mineral phases that are
mostly anhydrous. The whole composition, rich in carbon and non-hydrated
minerals, points to a primitive matter that likely preserved its
initial characteristics since the comet accretion in the outer regions
of the protoplanetary disc.


Last updated on 2024-26-11 at 21:28