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    The Salt of the Comet

    January 22, 2020, Categories  Astronomy/Space, Chemistry/Nanotechnology

    A plume of dust from Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko, seen by the OSIRIS Wide Angle Camera on ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft on 3 July 2016. The shadow of the plume is cast across the basin, which is in the Imhotep region. Credit: ESA/Rosetta/MPS for OSIRIS Team MPS/UPD/LAM/IAA/SSO/INTA/UPM/DASP/IDA

    More than 30 years ago, the European comet mission Giotto flew past Halley’s comet. The Bernese ion mass spectrometer IMS, led by Prof. em. Hans Balsiger, was on board. A key finding from the measurements taken by this instrument was that there appeared to be a lack of nitrogen in Halley’s coma – the nebulous covering of comets which forms when a comet passes close to the sun...

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    Rosetta’s Mass Spectrometer ROSINA detected Argon at Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko

    September 28, 2015, Categories  Astronomy/Space

    DFMS mass spectra in the m/z ranges of 36 and 38. The spectra demonstrate the clear identification of the two isotopes 36Ar and 38Ar and of the interfering molecules. The exact m/z locations are given in the text. The spacecraft background spectra were obtained before the cometary signal became apparent (2 August 2014, heliocentric distance of 3.6 AU, almost 800 km from the nucleus).

    DFMS mass spectra in the m/z ranges of 36 and 38. The spectra demonstrate the clear identification of the two isotopes 36Ar and 38Ar and of the interfering molecules. The exact m/z locations are given in the text. The spacecraft background spectra were obtained before the cometary signal became apparent (2 August 2014, heliocentric distance of 3.6 AU, almost 800 km from the nucleus).

    This measurement adds to the debate about the role of comets in delivering various “ingredients,” such as water, to Earth. Comets are considered to be representative of icy planetesimals that may have contributed a significant fraction of the volatiles to planets in the very early solar system...

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