Probing the Evolutionary History of Comets: An Investigation of the Hypervolatiles CO, CH4, and C2H6 in the Jupiter-family Comet 21P/Giacobini–Zinner

Roth, Nathan X.; Gibb, E. L.; Bonev, B. P.; DiSanti, M. A.; Russo, N. Dello; McKay, Adam; Vervack, R. J.; Kawakita, Hideyo; Saki, Mohammad; Biver, Nicolás; Bockelée‐Morvan, Dominique; Feaga, Lori M.; Fougere, N.; Cochran, A. L.; Combi, M. R.; Shou, Y.

doi:10.3847/1538-3881/ab536b

Cited by 25 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…It is clear from Figure 1 that the asymmetric activity is seen for all species and this behaviour does not change over the various apparitions (Schleicher et al 1987;Combi et al 2011) as shown also in Figure 2 for the water production rate. The same behavior has been reported for the parent molecules (H 2 O, CO, CH 4 , C 2 H 2 , C 2 H 6 , NH 3 and CH 3 OH) production rates derived at infrared wavelengths during the 2018 passage (Faggi et al 2019;Roth et al 2020). This might due to the shape of the nucleus and its spin-axis orientation.…”

Section: Gas Production Ratessupporting

confidence: 80%

“…This could be due to a sensitivity issue in their data as the production rates seem to level off on both sides of perihelion while the distance increase or to a higher activity level of the comet after perihelion in the past. It has been also found that there is no significant change in the production rates of hypervolatile molecules (CO, CH 4 , and C 2 H 6 ) in comet 21P over the three different apparitions, 1998 (Weaver et al 1999;Mumma et al 2000(DiSanti et al 2012) and 2018 (Faggi et al 2019;Roth et al 2020).…”

Section: Gas Production Ratesmentioning

confidence: 93%

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Photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy of comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner during its 2018 apparition

Moulane,

Jehin,

Rousselot

et al. 2020

Preprint

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We report on photometry and high resolution spectroscopy of the chemically peculiar Jupiter-family Comet (hereafter JFC) 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. Comet 21P is a well known member of the carbon-chain depleted family but displays also a depletion of amines. We monitored continuously the comet over more than seven months with the two TRAPPIST telescopes (TN and TS), covering a large heliocentric distance range from 1.60 au inbound to 2.10 au outbound with a perihelion at 1.01 au on September 10, 2018. We computed and followed the evolution of the dust (represented by Afρ) and gas production rates of the daughter species OH, NH, CN, C 3 , and C 2 and their relative abundances to OH and to CN over the comet orbit. We compared them to those measured in the previous apparitions. The activity of the comet and its water production rate reached a maximum of (3.72±0.07)×10 28 molec/s on August 17, 2018 (r h =1.07 au), 24 days before perihelion. The peak value of A(0)fρ was reached on the same date (1646±13) cm in the red filter. Using a sublimation model for the nucleus, we constrained the active surface of the nucleus using the slow-rotator model. The abundance ratios of the various species are remarkably constant over a large range of heliocentric distances, before and after perihelion, showing a high level of homogeneity of the ices in the surface of the nucleus. The behaviour and level of the activity of the comet is also remarkably similar over the last five orbits. About the coma dust colour, 21P shows reflectively gradients similar to JFCs. We obtained a high resolution spectrum of 21P with UVES at ESO VLT one week after perihelion. Using the CN B-X (0, 0) violet band, we measured 12 C/ 13 C and 14 N/ 15 N isotopic ratios of 100±10 and 145±10, respectively, both in very good agreement with what is usually found in comets. We measured an ortho-para abundance ratio of NH 3 of 1.16±0.02 corresponding to a nuclear spin temperature of T spin =27±1 K, similar to other comets. While the abundance ratios in the gaseous coma reveal a peculiar composition, the isotopic and ortho-to-para ratios appear totally normal. We performed a dynamical simulation of 21P and we found that it is likely a young member of the JFC population. We favour a pristine composition scenario to explain the chemical peculiarities of this comet.

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Section: Gas Production Ratessupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Gas Production Ratesmentioning

confidence: 93%

Photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy of comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner during its 2018 apparition

Moulane,

Jehin,

Rousselot

et al. 2020

Preprint

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“…Taking this change into account, one can infer that the comet activity follows the same trend as in 1998 of continuous decrease of active surface around perihelion. This was also observed by Combi et al (2011) and Roth et al (2020) for the 1998, 2005, and 2018 perihelions. Besides this small trend, production rates and relative abundances were very similar in 1998 and 2018, suggesting no significant secular trend both in activity and composition.…”

Section: Evolution Of Production Rates Of Comet 21psupporting

confidence: 72%

“…This was also observed for the visual heliocentric magnitude, which peaked 1-2 weeks prior to perihelion in 1998 and 2018. In 2018, Roth et al (2020) observed OH and H 2 O in the infrared yielding a water production rate in the range 3.2-3.0 × 10 28 molec. s −1 for the 7-11 September period, just before our IRAM observations.…”

Section: Reference Water Production Ratementioning

confidence: 99%

Molecular composition of short-period comets from millimetre-wave spectroscopy: 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, 38P/Stephan-Oterma, 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák, and 64P/Swift-Gehrels

Biver

Bockelée‐Morvan

Lis

et al. 2021

A&A

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We present the results of millimetre-wave spectroscopic observations and spectral surveys of the following short-period comets: 21P/Giacobini-Zinner in September 2018, 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák in April 2017, and 64P/Swift-Gehrels and 38P/Stephan-Oterma in December 2018, carried out with the Institut de RadioAstronomie Millimétrique (IRAM) 30-m radio telescope at wavelengths between 1 and 3 mm. Comet 21P was also observed in November 1998 with the IRAM 30-m, James Clerk Maxwell Telescope, and the Caltech submillimeter Observatory radio telescopes at wavelengths from 0.8 to 3 mm. The abundances of the following molecules have been determined in those comets: HCN, CH3OH, CS, H2CO, CH3CN, and H2S in comet 21P; HCN and CH3OH in 41P; HCN, CH3OH, and CS in 64P; and CH3OH in 38P. The last three comets, classified as carbon-chain typical from visible spectro-photometry, are relatively rich in methanol (3.5–5% relative to water). On the other hand, comet 21P, classified as carbon-chain depleted, shows abundances relative to water which are low for methanol (1.7%), very low for H2S (0.1%), and also relatively low for H2CO (0.16%) and CO (<2.5%). Observations of comet 21P do not show any change in activity and composition between the 1998 and 2018 perihelions. Sensitive upper limits on the abundances of other molecules such as CO, HNCO, HNC, or SO are also reported for these comets.

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“…However, as noted above, the statistics for CH

in JFCs are far from robust. Recent years have provided several rare and favorable opportunities to observe CH

in JFCs [ 52 , 110 , 111 , 112 , 113 , 114 ], providing a much needed boost towards establishing a statistically significant sample of CH

measurements in JFCs. However, it is still much smaller than the OCC sample, making comparisons between the two classes more difficult.…”

Section: Results For Specific Speciesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Organic Matter in Cometary Environments

McKay

Roth

2021

Life

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Comets contain primitive material leftover from the formation of the Solar System, making studies of their composition important for understanding the formation of volatile material in the early Solar System. This includes organic molecules, which, for the purpose of this review, we define as compounds with C–H and/or C–C bonds. In this review, we discuss the history and recent breakthroughs of the study of organic matter in comets, from simple organic molecules and photodissociation fragments to large macromolecular structures. We summarize results both from Earth-based studies as well as spacecraft missions to comets, highlighted by the Rosetta mission, which orbited comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko for two years, providing unprecedented insights into the nature of comets. We conclude with future prospects for the study of organic matter in comets.

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Probing the Evolutionary History of Comets: An Investigation of the Hypervolatiles CO, CH₄, and C₂H₆ in the Jupiter-family Comet 21P/Giacobini–Zinner

Cited by 25 publications

References 59 publications

Photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy of comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner during its 2018 apparition

Photometry and high-resolution spectroscopy of comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner during its 2018 apparition

Molecular composition of short-period comets from millimetre-wave spectroscopy: 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, 38P/Stephan-Oterma, 41P/Tuttle-Giacobini-Kresák, and 64P/Swift-Gehrels

Organic Matter in Cometary Environments

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