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Composition of Comets and Interstellar Dust

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 March 2016

Pascale Ehrenfreund
Pascale Ehrenfreund*
Affiliation:
Leiden Observatory, P O Box 9513, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands

Abstract

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Recent observational results from ground and space-based observatories in combination with laboratory simulations allow us to monitor the evolution, survival, transport and transformation of cosmic dust from molecular clouds and the diffuse interstellar medium, until their incorporation into Solar System material. The composition of comets encodes information on their origin and can be used as a tracer for processes which were predominant in the protosolar nebula. A comparison of the composition and abundances of interstellar molecules and cometary volatiles reveals a general correspondence, but discrepancies are also apparent. Detailed studies indicate that cometary ices are a mixture of original interstellar material with material that has been moderately to heavily processed in the pre-solar nebula. The inventory and distribution of ice and organic molecules in interstellar clouds and in comets and their common link are briefly described.

Type
II. Joint Discussions
Information
Highlights of Astronomy , Volume 12: Highlights of Astronomy. As presented at the XXIVth General Assembly of the IAU, 2000 , 2002 , pp. 229 - 232
Copyright
Copyright © Astronomical Society of Pacific 2002

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