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Balsiger H, Altwegg K, Bar-Nun A, et al. Detection of argon in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Sci Adv. 2015;1(8):e1500377doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1500377.
Balsiger, H., Altwegg, K., Bar-Nun, A., Berthelier, J. J., Bieler, A., Bochsler, P., Briois, C., Calmonte, U., Combi, M., De Keyser, J., Eberhardt, P., Fiethe, B., Fuselier, S. A., Gasc, S., Gombosi, T. I., Hansen, K. C., Hässig, M., Jäckel, A., Kopp, E., Korth, A., Le Roy, L., Mall, U., Marty, B., Mousis, O., Owen, T., Rème, H., Rubin, M., Sémon, T., Tzou, C. Y., Waite, J. H., & Wurz, P. (2015). Detection of argon in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Science advances, 1(8), e1500377. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500377
Balsiger, Hans, et al. "Detection of argon in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko." Science advances vol. 1,8 (2015): e1500377. doi: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.1500377
Balsiger H, Altwegg K, Bar-Nun A, Berthelier JJ, Bieler A, Bochsler P, Briois C, Calmonte U, Combi M, De Keyser J, Eberhardt P, Fiethe B, Fuselier SA, Gasc S, Gombosi TI, Hansen KC, Hässig M, Jäckel A, Kopp E, Korth A, Le Roy L, Mall U, Marty B, Mousis O, Owen T, Rème H, Rubin M, Sémon T, Tzou CY, Waite JH, Wurz P. Detection of argon in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. Sci Adv. 2015 Sep 25;1(8):e1500377. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1500377. eCollection 2015 Sep. PMID: 26601264; PMCID: PMC4643765.
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Sci Adv. 2015 Sep 25;1(8):e1500377. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.1500377. eCollection 2015 Sep.

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

Science advances

Hans Balsiger, Kathrin Altwegg, Akiva Bar-Nun, Jean-Jacques Berthelier, Andre Bieler, Peter Bochsler, Christelle Briois, Ursina Calmonte, Michael Combi, Johan De Keyser, Peter Eberhardt, Björn Fiethe, Stephen A Fuselier, Sébastien Gasc, Tamas I Gombosi, Kenneth C Hansen, Myrtha Hässig, Annette Jäckel, Ernest Kopp, Axel Korth, Lena Le Roy, Urs Mall, Bernard Marty, Olivier Mousis, Tobias Owen, Henri Rème, Martin Rubin, Thierry Sémon, Chia-Yu Tzou, J Hunter Waite, Peter Wurz

Affiliations

  1. Physikalisches Institut, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
  2. Physikalisches Institut, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland. ; Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
  3. Department of Geoscience, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel.
  4. LATMOS (Laboratoire Atmosphères, Milieux, Observations Spatiales)/IPSL (Institut Pierre Simon Laplace)-CNRS-UPMC (University Pierre et Marie Curie)-UVSQ (Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines), 4 Avenue de Neptune, F-94100 Saint-Maur, France.
  5. Physikalisches Institut, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland. ; Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, 2455 Hayward, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
  6. Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace (LPC2E), UMR 6115 CNRS-Université d'Orléans, 45071 Orléans, France.
  7. Department of Atmospheric, Oceanic and Space Sciences, University of Michigan, 2455 Hayward, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
  8. Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (BIRA-IASB), Ringlaan 3, B-1180 Brussels, Belgium.
  9. Institute of Computer and Network Engineering (IDA), Technische Universität (TU) Braunschweig, Hans-Sommer-Straße 66, D-38106 Braunschweig, Germany.
  10. Department of Space Science, Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78228, USA.
  11. Physikalisches Institut, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland. ; Department of Space Science, Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78228, USA.
  12. Max-Planck-Institut für Sonnensystemforschung, Justus-von-Liebig-Weg 3, 37077 Göttingen, Germany.
  13. Center for Space and Habitability, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
  14. CRPG (Centre de Recherches Pétrographiques et Géochimiques)-CNRS, Université de Lorraine, 15 rue Notre Dame des Pauvres, BP 20, 54501 Vandoeuvre lès Nancy, France.
  15. Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, LAM (Laboratoire d'Astrophysique de Marseille) UMR 7326, 13388 Marseille, France.
  16. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI 96822, USA.
  17. Université de Toulouse; UPS (Université Paul Sabatier)-OMP (L'Observatoire Midi-Pyrénées); IRAP (L'Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planétologie), 31400 Toulouse, France.

PMID: 26601264 PMCID: PMC4643765 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1500377

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 (36)Ar and by the (36)Ar/(38)Ar 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.

Keywords: 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko; Rosetta; Space science; comets; noble gas

References

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