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

F. Goesmann(Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research), H. Rosenbauer(Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research), Jan Hendrik Bredehöft(University of Bremen), M. Cabane(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), P. Ehrenfreund(Leiden University), Thomas Gautier(Goddard Space Flight Center), Chaitanya Giri(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Harald Krüger(Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research), L. Le Roy(University of Bern), Alexandra J. MacDermott(University of Houston - Clear Lake), S. McKenna‐Lawlor(National University of Ireland, Maynooth), Uwe J. Meierhenrich(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), G. M. Muñoz(Centro de Astrobiología), F. Raulin(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), R. Roll(Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research), A. Steele(Carnegie Institution for Science), H. Steininger(Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research), R. Sternberg(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Cyril Szopa(Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique), Wolfram Thiemann(University of Bremen), Stephan Ulamec(Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR))
Science
July 30, 2015
10.1126/science.aab0689
Cited by 461Open Access
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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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