Journal articles
Evidence of ammonium salts in comet 67P as explanation for the nitrogen depletion in cometary comae
Kathrin Altwegg
1
Hans Balsiger
1
Jean-Jacques Berthelier
2
Christelle Briois
3
Mike Combi
4
Johan de Keyser
5
Nora Hänni
1
Frederik Dhooghe
5
Björn Fiethe
6
Steven A. Fuselier
7
Martin Rubin
1
Tamas I. Gombosi
4
Hervé Cottin
8
Markus Schuhmann
1
Isaac Schroeder
1
Thierry Sémon
1
Susanne Wampfler
9
Kathrin Altwegg 1
Author
Hans Balsiger 1
Author
Jean-Jacques Berthelier 2
Author
Christelle Briois 3
Author
Susanne Wampfler 9
Author
1
Physikalisches Institut [Bern] (Sidlerstr. 5, 3012 Bern - Switzerland)
- Universität Bern [Bern] (Hochschulstrasse 4 - CH-3012 Bern - Switzerland)
2
PLANETO - LATMOS (France)
- LATMOS - Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales (11 boulevard d'Alembert
Quartier des Garennes
78280 - Guyancourt - France)
- SU - Sorbonne Université : UMR8190 (21 rue de l’École de médecine - 75006 Paris - France)
- UVSQ - Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines : UMR8190 (55 avenue de Paris - 78035 Versailles cedex - France)
- CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : UMR8190 (France)
- INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers : UMR8190 (INSU-CNRS 3 rue Michel-Ange, 75794 Paris Cedex 16 - France)
3
LPC2E - Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace (3A, Avenue de la Recherche Scientifique 45071 Orléans cedex 2 - France)
- OSUC - Observatoire des Sciences de l'Univers en région Centre : UMS3116 (Campus Géosciences, 1A rue de la Férollerie, 45071 Orléans - France)
- INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU-CNRS 3 rue Michel-Ange, 75794 Paris Cedex 16 - France)
- Observatoire de Paris (61 Av de l'Observatoire 75014 PARIS - France)
- PSL - Université Paris sciences et lettres (60 rue Mazarine 75006 Paris - France)
- UO - Université d'Orléans (Château de la Source - Avenue du Parc Floral - BP 6749 - 45067 Orléans cedex 2 - France)
- CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : UMS3116 (France)
- CNES - Centre National d’Études Spatiales [Paris] : UMR 7328 (Siège social : 2 place Maurice Quentin, 75039 Paris - France)
4
CLaSP - Department of Climate and Space Sciences and Engineering (University of Michigan, 2455 Hayward Street, Ann Arbor,
MI-48109-2143 - United States)
- University of Michigan [Ann Arbor] (500 Church Street Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1090 - United States)
- University of Michigan System (Michigan - United States)
5
BIRA-IASB - Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy / Institut d'Aéronomie Spatiale de Belgique (Ringlaan-3-Avenue Circulaire B-1180 Brussels - Belgium)
6
IDA - Institute of Computer and Network Engineering [Braunschweig] (Hans-Sommer-Street 66, 38106 Braunschweig - Germany)
- Technische Universität Braunschweig [Braunschweig] (38092 Braunschweig - Germany)
7
SwRI - Southwest Research Institute [San Antonio] (6220 Culebra Rd, San Antonio, TX 78238 - United States)
8
LISA (UMR_7583) - Laboratoire Interuniversitaire des Systèmes Atmosphériques ( Université Paris-Est Créteil Val de Marne - Bât. Lamarck case postale 7059 - Faculté des Sciences et Technologie 61 avenue du Général de Gaulle 94010 Créteil Cedex - France)
- CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique : UMR_7583 (France)
- INSU - CNRS - Institut national des sciences de l'Univers : UMR_7583 (INSU-CNRS 3 rue Michel-Ange, 75794 Paris Cedex 16 - France)
- UP - Université de Paris : UMR_7583 (85 boulevard Saint-Germain 75006 Paris - France)
- UPEC UP12 - Université Paris-Est Créteil Val-de-Marne - Paris 12 : UMR_7583 (61 avenue du Général de Gaulle - 94010 Créteil cedex - France)
9
CSH - Center for Space and Habitability (University of Bern,
Hochschulstrasse 4,
3012 Bern - Switzerland)
- University of Bern (Hochschulstrasse 4, 3012 Bern, Switzerland - Switzerland)
Abstract : Cometary comae are generally depleted in nitrogen. The main carriers for volatile nitrogen in comets are NH3 and HCN. It is known that ammonia readily combines with many acids, such as HCN, HNCO and HCOOH, encountered in the interstellar medium as well as in cometary ice to form ammonium salts (NH4+X-) at low temperatures. Ammonium salts, which can have a substantial role in prebiotic chemistry, are hard to detect in space as they are unstable in the gas phase and their infrared signature is often hidden by thermal radiation or by, for example, OH in minerals. Here we report the presence of all possible sublimation products of five different ammonium salts in the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko measured by the ROSINA instrument onboard Rosetta. The relatively high sublimation temperatures of the salts leads to an apparent lack of volatile nitrogen in the coma. This then also explains the observed trend of higher NH3/H2O ratios with decreasing perihelion distances in comets.
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https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-02411099
Contributor : Catherine Cardon <>
Submitted on : Wednesday, March 11, 2020 - 9:31:01 AM
Last modification on : Thursday, April 15, 2021 - 3:08:12 PM
Long-term archiving on: : Friday, June 12, 2020 - 1:29:51 PM
Contributor : Catherine Cardon <>
Submitted on : Wednesday, March 11, 2020 - 9:31:01 AM
Last modification on : Thursday, April 15, 2021 - 3:08:12 PM
Long-term archiving on: : Friday, June 12, 2020 - 1:29:51 PM
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- HAL Id : insu-02411099, version 1
- ARXIV : 1911.13005
- BIBCODE : 2019arXiv191113005A
- DOI : 10.1038/s41550-019-0991-9
Collections
OBSPM | SU-SCIENCES | SORBONNE-UNIVERSITE | LPC2E | UVSQ | LISA | UPEC | OSUC | INSU | UPEC-UPEM | CNRS | UNIV-ORLEANS | LATMOS | UNIV-PARIS | UP-SCIENCES | PSL | SU-TI | GS-ENGINEERING
Citation
Kathrin Altwegg, Hans Balsiger, Jean-Jacques Berthelier, Christelle Briois, Mike Combi, et al.. Evidence of ammonium salts in comet 67P as explanation for the nitrogen depletion in cometary comae. Nature Astronomy, Nature Publishing Group, 2020, 4, pp.533-540. ⟨10.1038/s41550-019-0991-9⟩. ⟨insu-02411099⟩
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