Cometary science after Rosetta

The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission ended operations on 30 September 2016 having spent over 2 years in close proximity to its target comet, 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko. Shortly before this, in summer 2016, a discussion meeting was held to examine how the results of the mission could be framed in terms of cometary and solar system science in general. This paper provides a brief history of the Rosetta mission, and gives an overview of the meeting and the contents of this associated special issue. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Cometary science after Rosetta’.

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16O/18O ratio in water in the coma of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko measured with the Rosetta/ROSINA double-focusing mass spectrometer

Astronomy and Astrophysics ◽

10.1051/0004-6361/201833806 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 630 ◽

pp. A29 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Isaac R. H. G. Schroeder I ◽

Kathrin Altwegg ◽

Hans Balsiger ◽

Jean-Jacques Berthelier ◽

Johan De Keyser ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Mass Spectrometer ◽

European Space Agency ◽

Space Agency ◽

Close Proximity ◽

Terrestrial Water ◽

Double Focusing ◽

Comet 67P ◽

Almost Continuous

The European Space Agency spacecraft Rosetta accompanied the Jupiter-family comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko for over 2 yr along its trajectory through the inner solar system. Between 2014 and 2016, it performed almost continuous in situ measurements of the comet’s gaseous atmosphere in close proximity to its nucleus. In this study, the 16O/18O ratio of H2O in the coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, as measured by the ROSINA DFMS mass spectrometer onboard Rosetta, was determined from the ratio of H216O/H218O and 16OH/18OH. The value of 445 ± 35 represents an ~11% enrichment of 18O compared with the terrestrial ratio of 498.7 ± 0.1. This cometary value is consistent with the comet containing primordial water, in accordance with leading self-shielding models. These models predict primordial water to be between 5 and 20% enriched in heavier oxygen isotopes compared to terrestrial water.

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Introduction to PSS special issue: low frequency array (LOFAR) and (extra-)solar system science

Planetary and Space Science ◽

10.1016/j.pss.2004.09.005 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 52 (15) ◽

pp. 1339-1341 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Imke de Pater ◽

Namir Kassim ◽

Helmut O. Rucker

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Low Frequency ◽

Special Issue ◽

System Science

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The asteroid-comet continuum from laboratory and space analyses of comet samples and micrometeorites

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s1743921316002994 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 11 (A29A) ◽

pp. 253-256 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Cécile Engrand ◽

Jean Duprat ◽

Noémie Bardin ◽

Emmanuel Dartois ◽

Hugues Leroux ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Interplanetary Dust ◽

Cosmic Dust ◽

Dust Particles ◽

Interplanetary Dust Particles ◽

Cometary Dust ◽

History Of ◽

Polar Snow ◽

Comet 67P ◽

Cometary Origin

AbstractComets are probably the best archives of the nascent solar system, 4.5 Gyr ago, and their compositions reveal crucial clues on the structure and dynamics of the early protoplanetary disk. Anhydrous minerals (olivine and pyroxene) have been identified in cometary dust for a few decades. Surprisingly, samples from comet Wild2 returned by the Stardust mission in 2006 also contain high temperature mineral assemblages like chondrules and refractory inclusions, which are typical components of primitive meteorites (carbonaceous chondrites - CCs). A few Stardust samples have also preserved some organic matter of comet Wild 2 that share some similarities with CCs. Interplanetary dust falling on Earth originate from comets and asteroids in proportions to be further constrained. These cosmic dust particles mostly show similarities with CCs, which in turn only represent a few percent of meteorites recovered on Earth. At least two (rare) families of cosmic dust particles have shown strong evidences for a cometary origin: the chondritic porous interplanetary dust particles (CP-IDPs) collected in the terrestrial stratosphere by NASA, and the ultracarbonaceous Antarctic Micrometeorites (UCAMMs) collected from polar snow and ice by French and Japanese teams. Analyses of dust particles from the Jupiter family comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko by the dust analyzers on Rosetta orbiter (COSIMA, GIADA, MIDAS) suggest a relationship to interplanetary dust/micrometeorites. A growing number of evidences highlights the existence of a continuum between asteroids and comets, already in the early history of the solar system.

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Meteorites – The Significance of Collection and Curation and Future Developments

Proceedings of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s1743921314005055 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 10 (H16) ◽

pp. 147-147

Author(s):

Caroline Smith

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Scientific Study ◽

The Moon ◽

Sample Return ◽

System Science ◽

Future Developments ◽

History Of ◽

Robotic Missions ◽

Future Sample

AbstractMeteorites are some of the most important and valuable rocks available for scientific study. Approximately 43,000 meteorites are known on Earth and are egeologicalf samples of extraterrestrial bodies - meteorites are known to originate from asteroids, the Moon, Mars and possibly comets. With expanding exploration of our Solar System, meteorites provide the eground truthf to compare data collected by robotic missions with results gained from a variety of more accurate and precise techniques using laboratories on Earth. This talk will give an introduction to the history of meteorite science and the importance of meteorite collections to the field of meteoritics, planetary and solar system science. Curation of extraterrestrial samples is a particularly pertinent issue, especially with regards to particularly rare samples such as those from Mars like the recent Tissint meteorite. Future sample return missions to asteroids and Mars also pose siginificant challenges around the curation of these precious materials. Issues surrounding the curation of samples and how curation and curatorial actions can influence scientific studies will also be discussed.

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Stellar Evolution

Transactions of the International Astronomical Union ◽

10.1017/s0251107x00022343 ◽

1962 ◽

Vol 11 (02) ◽

pp. 137-143

Author(s):

M. Schwarzschild

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Stellar Evolution ◽

Space Craft ◽

New Techniques ◽

Substantial Body ◽

Individual Stars ◽

The Past ◽

Evolution Of Galaxies ◽

History Of ◽

Fast Flow

It is perhaps one of the most important characteristics of the past decade in astronomy that the evolution of some major classes of astronomical objects has become accessible to detailed research. The theory of the evolution of individual stars has developed into a substantial body of quantitative investigations. The evolution of galaxies, particularly of our own, has clearly become a subject for serious research. Even the history of the solar system, this close-by intriguing puzzle, may soon make the transition from being a subject of speculation to being a subject of detailed study in view of the fast flow of new data obtained with new techniques, including space-craft.

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Analytical Electron Microscopy of Extraterrestrial Ice Analogs

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100181737 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 48 (1) ◽

pp. 594-595

Author(s):

D.F. Blake ◽

LJ. Allamandola ◽

G. Palmer ◽

A. Pohorille

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Analytical Electron Microscopy ◽

Biogenic Elements ◽

Widespread Occurrence ◽

Interstellar Ice ◽

Analytical Electron ◽

History Of ◽

Interstellar Material ◽

Astrophysical Ices ◽

Interstellar Molecular Clouds

The natural history of the biogenic elements H, C, N, O, P and S in the cosmos is of great interest because it is these elements which comprise all life. Material ejected from stars (or pre-existing in the interstellar medium) is thought to condense into diffuse bodies of gravitationally bound gas and dust called cold interstellar molecular clouds. Current theories predict that within these clouds, at temperatures of 10-100° K, gases (primarily H2O, but including CO, CO2, CH3OH, NH3, and others) condense onto submicron silicate grains to form icy grain mantles. This interstellar ice represents the earliest and most primitive association of the biogenic elements. Within these multicomponent icy mantles, pre-biotic organic compounds are formed during exposure to UV radiation. It is thought that icy planetesimals (such as comets) within our solar system contain some pristine interstellar material, including ices, and may have (during the early bombardment of the solar system, ∼4 Ga) carried this material to Earth.Despite the widespread occurrence of astrophysical ices and their importance to pre-biotic organic evolution, few experimental data exist which address the relevant phase equilibria and possible structural states. A knowledge of the petrology of astrophysical ice analogs will allow scientists to more confidently interpret astronomical IR observations. Furthermore, the development and refinement of procedures for analyzing ices and other materials at cryogenic temperatures is critical to the study of materials returned from the proposed Rosetta comet nucleus and Mars sample return missions.

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Reframing the Sciences of the Long Eighteenth Century

Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences ◽

10.1525/hsns.2020.50.1-2.58 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 50 (1-2) ◽

pp. 58-66

Author(s):

Giuliano Pancaldi

Keyword(s):

Eighteenth Century ◽

History Of Science ◽

Science Policy ◽

Special Issue ◽

Half Century ◽

The Past ◽

Past Half Century ◽

History Of ◽

Long Eighteenth Century ◽

Past Half

Here I survey a sample of the essays and reviews on the sciences of the long eighteenth century published in this journal since it was founded in 1969. The connecting thread is some historiographic reflections on the role that disciplines—in both the sciences we study and the fields we practice—have played in the development of the history of science over the past half century. I argue that, as far as disciplines are concerned, we now find ourselves a bit closer to a situation described in our studies of the long eighteenth century than we were fifty years ago. This should both favor our understanding of that period and, hopefully, make the historical studies that explore it more relevant to present-day developments and science policy. This essay is part of a special issue entitled “Looking Backward, Looking Forward: HSNS at 50,” edited by Erika Lorraine Milam.

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From Dust to Life

10.23943/princeton/9780691175706.001.0001 ◽

2017 ◽

Author(s):

John Chambers ◽

Jacqueline Mitton

Keyword(s):

Solar System ◽

Extrasolar Planets ◽

Planetary Systems ◽

History Of Astronomy ◽

Human Origins ◽

History Of ◽

The Subject ◽

Emergence Of Life

The birth and evolution of our solar system is a tantalizing mystery that may one day provide answers to the question of human origins. This book tells the remarkable story of how the celestial objects that make up the solar system arose from common beginnings billions of years ago, and how scientists and philosophers have sought to unravel this mystery down through the centuries, piecing together the clues that enabled them to deduce the solar system's layout, its age, and the most likely way it formed. Drawing on the history of astronomy and the latest findings in astrophysics and the planetary sciences, the book offers the most up-to-date and authoritative treatment of the subject available. It examines how the evolving universe set the stage for the appearance of our Sun, and how the nebulous cloud of gas and dust that accompanied the young Sun eventually became the planets, comets, moons, and asteroids that exist today. It explores how each of the planets acquired its unique characteristics, why some are rocky and others gaseous, and why one planet in particular—our Earth—provided an almost perfect haven for the emergence of life. The book takes readers to the very frontiers of modern research, engaging with the latest controversies and debates. It reveals how ongoing discoveries of far-distant extrasolar planets and planetary systems are transforming our understanding of our own solar system's astonishing history and its possible fate.

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Drifting Through a Planetary System

10.1093/oso/9780198799894.003.0006 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Karel Schrijver

Keyword(s):

Seventeenth Century ◽

Solar System ◽

Virtual Worlds ◽

Planetary System ◽

System P ◽

History Of ◽

Or Team ◽

Water Contents

This chapter describes how the first found exoplanets presented puzzles: they orbited where they should not have formed or where they could not have survived the death of their stars. The Solar System had its own puzzles to add: Mars is smaller than expected, while Venus, Earth, and Mars had more water—at least at one time—than could be understood. This chapter shows how astronomers worked through the combination of these puzzles: now we appreciate that planets can change their orbits, scatter water-bearing asteroids about, steal material from growing planets, or team up with other planets to stabilize their future. The special history of Jupiter and Saturn as a pair bringing both destruction and water to Earth emerged from the study of seventeenth-century resonant clocks, from the water contents of asteroids, and from experiments with supercomputers imposing the laws of physics on virtual worlds.

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