IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v13y2022i1d10.1038_s41467-022-31346-9.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Identification and characterization of a new ensemble of cometary organic molecules

Author

Listed:
  • N. Hänni

    (University of Bern)

  • K. Altwegg

    (University of Bern)

  • M. Combi

    (University of Michigan)

  • S. A. Fuselier

    (Space Science Directorate, Southwest Research Institute
    The University of Texas at San Antonio)

  • J. De Keyser

    (Royal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, BIRA-IASB)

  • M. Rubin

    (University of Bern)

  • S. F. Wampfler

    (University of Bern)

Abstract

In-situ study of comet 1P/Halley during its 1986 apparition revealed a surprising abundance of organic coma species. It remained unclear, whether or not these species originated from polymeric matter. Now, high-resolution mass-spectrometric data collected at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by ESA’s Rosetta mission unveil the chemical structure of complex cometary organics. Here, we identify an ensemble of individual molecules with masses up to 140 Da while demonstrating inconsistency of the data with relevant amounts of polymeric matter. The ensemble has an average composition of C1H1.56O0.134N0.046S0.017, identical to meteoritic soluble organic matter, and includes a plethora of chain-based, cyclic, and aromatic hydrocarbons at an approximate ratio of 6:3:1. Its compositional and structural properties, except for the H/C ratio, resemble those of other Solar System reservoirs of organics—from organic material in the Saturnian ring rain to meteoritic soluble and insoluble organic matter –, which is compatible with a shared prestellar history.

Suggested Citation

  • N. Hänni & K. Altwegg & M. Combi & S. A. Fuselier & J. De Keyser & M. Rubin & S. F. Wampfler, 2022. "Identification and characterization of a new ensemble of cometary organic molecules," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-12, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-31346-9
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31346-9
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31346-9
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-022-31346-9?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Nicolas Fray & Anaïs Bardyn & Hervé Cottin & Kathrin Altwegg & Donia Baklouti & Christelle Briois & Luigi Colangeli & Cécile Engrand & Henning Fischer & Albrecht Glasmachers & Eberhard Grün & Gerhard , 2016. "High-molecular-weight organic matter in the particles of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko," Nature, Nature, vol. 538(7623), pages 72-74, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      More about this item

      Statistics

      Access and download statistics

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-31346-9. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.