Detection of argon in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

dc.contributor.author Balsiger, Hans
dc.contributor.author Altwegg, Kathrin
dc.contributor.author Bar-Nun, Akiva
dc.contributor.author Berthelier, Jean-Jacques
dc.contributor.author Bieler, Andre
dc.contributor.author Bochsler, Peter
dc.contributor.author Briois, Christelle
dc.contributor.author Calmonte, Ursina
dc.contributor.author Combi, Michael
dc.contributor.author De Keyser, Johan
dc.contributor.author Eberhardt, Peter
dc.contributor.author Fiethe, Björn
dc.contributor.author Fuselier, Stephen A.
dc.contributor.author Gasc, Sébestien
dc.contributor.author Gombosi, Tamas I.
dc.contributor.author Hansen, Kenneth C.
dc.contributor.author Hässig, Myrtha
dc.contributor.author Jäckel, Annette
dc.contributor.author Kopp, Ernest
dc.contributor.author Korth, Axel
dc.contributor.author Le Roy, Lena
dc.contributor.author Mall, Urs
dc.contributor.author Marty, Bernard
dc.contributor.author Mousis, Olivier
dc.contributor.author Owen, Tobias
dc.contributor.author Rème, Henri
dc.contributor.author Rubin, Martin
dc.contributor.author Sémon, Thierry
dc.contributor.author Tzou, Chia-Yu
dc.contributor.author Waite, J. Hunter
dc.contributor.author Wurz, Peter
dc.date.accessioned 2016-03-22T02:50:48Z
dc.date.available 2016-03-22T02:50:48Z
dc.date.issued 2015-09
dc.description.abstract Comets have been considered to be representative of icy planetesimals that may have contributed a significant fraction of the volatile inventory of the terrestrial planets. For example, comets must have brought some water to Earth. However, the magnitude of their contribution is still debated. We report the detection of argon and its relation to the water abundance in the Jupiter family comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by in situ measurement of the Rosetta Orbiter Spectrometer for Ion and Neutral Analysis (ROSINA) mass spectrometer aboard the Rosetta spacecraft. Despite the very low intensity of the signal, argon is clearly identified by the exact determination of the mass of the isotope 36Ar and by the 36Ar/38Ar ratio. Because of time variability and spatial heterogeneity of the coma, only a range of the relative abundance of argon to water can be given. Nevertheless, this range confirms that comets of the type 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko cannot be the major source of Earth’s major volatiles.
dc.format.extent 5
dc.identifier.doi 10.1126/sciadv.1500377
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10125/39983
dc.language.iso en-US
dc.publisher Science Advances
dc.relation.uri http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/8/e1500377
dc.rights Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
dc.rights.uri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
dc.title Detection of argon in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
dc.type Article
dc.type.dcmi Text
Files
Original bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
e1500377.full.pdf
Size:
531.47 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
License bundle
Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.62 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description: