Organic compounds on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko revealed by COSAC mass spectrometry - INSU - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers Access content directly
Journal Articles Science Year : 2015

Organic compounds on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko revealed by COSAC mass spectrometry

Michel Cabane
  • Function : Author
  • PersonId : 965609
Thomas Gautier
Léna Le Roy
Uwe J. Meierhenrich
Cyril Szopa
Stephan Ulamec

Abstract

Comets harbor the most pristine material in our solar system in the form of ice, dust, silicates, and refractory organic material with some interstellar heritage. The evolved gas analyzer Cometary Sampling and Composition (COSAC) experiment aboard Rosetta’s Philae lander was designed for in situ analysis of organic molecules on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Twenty-five minutes after Philae’s initial comet touchdown, the COSAC mass spectrometer took a spectrum in sniffing mode, which displayed a suite of 16 organic compounds, including many nitrogen-bearing species but no sulfur-bearing species, and four compounds—methyl isocyanate, acetone, propionaldehyde, and acetamide—that had not previously been reported in comets.
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insu-01182551 , version 1 (31-07-2015)

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Fred Goesmann, Helmut Rosenbauer, Jan Hendrik Bredehoft, Michel Cabane, Pascale Ehrenfreund, et al.. Organic compounds on comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko revealed by COSAC mass spectrometry. Science, 2015, 349 (6247), pp.aab0689. ⟨10.1126/science.aab0689⟩. ⟨insu-01182551⟩
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