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Identification of two sources of carbon monoxide in comet Hale–Bopp

Nature volume 399, pages 662–665 (1999)Cite this article

Abstract

The composition of ices in comets may reflect that of the molecular cloud in which the Sun formed, or it may show evidence of chemical processing in the pre-planetary accretion disk around the proto-Sun. As carbon monoxide (CO) is ubiquitous in molecular clouds1,2, its abundance with respect to water could help to determine the degree to which pre-cometary material was processed, although variations in CO abundance may also be influenced by the distance from the Sun at which comets formed3,4,5. Observations have not hitherto provided an unambiguous measure of CO in the cometary ice (native CO). Evidence for an extended source of CO associated with comet Halley was provided by the Giotto spacecraft6,7,8,9, but alternative interpretations exist10. Here we report observations of comet Hale–Bopp which show that about half of the CO in the comet comes directly from ice stored in the nucleus. The abundance of this CO with respect to water (12 per cent) is smaller than in quiescent regions of molecular clouds, but is consistent with that measured in proto-stellar envelopes11, suggesting that the ices underwent some processing before their inclusion into Hale–Bopp. The remaining CO arises in the coma, probably through thermal destruction of more complex molecules.

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Figure 1: CSHELL spectrum of comet Hale–Bopp, obtained UT1997 May 01.
Figure 2: Spatial profiles of CO emission in comet Hale–Bopp.
Figure 3: Hale–Bopp production rate curves (Q -curves), showing the derived Q (molecules s−1) asa fun.
Figure 4: Heliocentric dependence of Q CO and Q H 2 O in comet Hale–Bopp.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported through the NASA Planetary Astronomy Program. We thank the staff of the NASA Infrared Telescope Facility for their support throughout our comet Hale–Bopp observing campaign. The IRTF is operated by the University of Hawaii under contract to NASA. We thank J. Crovisier for comments which improved the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics, The Catholic University of America, 20064, Washington DC, USA

    Michael A. DiSanti & Neil Dello Russo

  2. Laboratory for Extraterrestrial Physics, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Code 690, Greenbelt, 20771, Maryland, USA

    Michael A. DiSanti, Michael J. Mumma & Neil Dello Russo

  3. Department of Chemistry and Physics, Rowan University, Glassboro, 08028, New Jersey, USA

    Karen Magee-Sauer

  4. Department of Physics, Iona College, New Rochelle, 10801, New York, USA

    Robert Novak

  5. Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, 46556, Indiana, USA

    Terrence W. Rettig

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Correspondence to Michael A. DiSanti.

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DiSanti, M., Mumma, M., Russo, N. et al. Identification of two sources of carbon monoxide in comet Hale–Bopp. Nature 399, 662–665 (1999). https://doi.org/10.1038/21378

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