Cometary Spectroscopy and Implications to the Chemical Composition, Physical Properties and Origin of Comets

Recent spectroscopic observations of comets, obtained especially in the vacuum ultraviolet spectral region from sounding rockets and satellites, have considerably increased our knowledge of the chemical composition of comets, and the physical and chemical processes occurring in their head and tail. From the UV spectra of comets observed so far, one can perhaps conclude that they have a very similar, homogeneous chemical composition, and possibly also a common origin.