D₂O and HDS in the coma of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko

Altwegg, Kathrin; Balsiger, Hans; Berthelier, J. J.; Bieler, André; Calmonte, Ursina Maria; De Keyser, J.; Fiethe, B.; Fuselier, S. A.; Gasc, Sébastien; Gombosi, T. I.; Owen, T.; Le Roy, Léna; Rubin, Martin; Sémon, Thierry; Tzou, Chia-Yu (2017). D₂O and HDS in the coma of 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society. Series A - mathematical, physical and engineering sciences, 375(2097), p. 20160253. Royal Society of London 10.1098/rsta.2016.0253

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The European Rosetta mission has been following comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko for 2 years, studying the nucleus and coma in great detail. For most of these 2 years the Rosetta Orbiter Sensor for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) has analysed the volatile part of the coma. With its high mass resolution and sensitivity it was able to not only detect deuterated water HDO, but also doubly deuterated water, D₂O and deuterated hydrogen sulfide HDS. The ratios for [HDO]/[H₂O], [D₂O]/[HDO] and [HDS]/[H₂S] derived from our measurements are (1.05 ± 0.14) × 10⁻³, (1.80 ± 0.9) × 10⁻² and (1.2 ± 0.3) × 10⁻³, respectively. These results yield a very high ratio of 17 for [D₂O]/[HDO] relative to [HDO]/[H₂O]. Statistically one would expect just 1/4. Such a high value can be explained by cometary water coming unprocessed from the presolar cloud, where water is formed on grains, leading to high deuterium fractionation. The high [HDS]/[H₂S] ratio is compatible with upper limits determined in low-mass star-forming regions and also points to a direct correlation of cometary H₂S with presolar grain surface chemistry.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute > Space Research and Planetary Sciences
08 Faculty of Science > Other Institutions > Emeriti, Faculty of Science
08 Faculty of Science > Physics Institute
10 Strategic Research Centers > Center for Space and Habitability (CSH)

UniBE Contributor:

Altwegg, Kathrin, Balsiger, Hans, Bieler, André, Calmonte, Ursina Maria, Gasc, Sébastien, Le Roy, Léna, Rubin, Martin, Sémon, Thierry, Tzou, Chia-Yu

Subjects:

500 Science > 520 Astronomy
600 Technology > 620 Engineering
500 Science > 530 Physics

ISSN:

1364-503X

Publisher:

Royal Society of London

Language:

English

Submitter:

Dora Ursula Zimmerer

Date Deposited:

13 Nov 2017 16:50

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:07

Publisher DOI:

10.1098/rsta.2016.0253

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.105776

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/105776

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