67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Astrobiology

Identified COMs towards the disk of V883 Ori. The horizontal dotted line in gray represents the noise level in the data (1σ), the black line represents the data, and different colors represent the best fit of the model of different species. --astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

A Deep Search For Complex Organic Molecules Toward The Protoplanetary Disk Of V883 Ori

by Keith CowingApril 9, 2025September 18, 2025

Complex Organic Molecules (COMs) in the form of prebiotic molecules are potentially building blocks of life.

Eris -- NASA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Primordial Origin of Methane on Eris and Makemake Supported by D/H Ratios

by Keith CowingMarch 26, 2025March 26, 2025

Deuterium, a heavy isotope of hydrogen, is a key tracer of the formation of the Solar System. Recent JWST observations have expanded the dataset of D/H ratios in methane on […]

Schematic representation of the overall suggested mechanism. Various polyynes observed in dark clouds (e.g., TMC-1) are presented in the left part of the reaction scheme. The accretion of polyynes on the surface of the grains is followed by hydrogenation of their unsaturated CC triple bonds, resulting in the formation of their semi-saturated and fully saturated counterparts. Besides CH2CHCCCHO, all of the firstgeneration products obtained by such hydrogenation have also been observed in the gas phase in TMC-1 or other dark clouds (Brown 1981; Irvine & Hjalmarson 1984; Agúndez et al. 2021; Cernicharo et al. 2001, 2020, 2021a,b, 2024; Lee et al. 2021; McGuire et al. 2017). In the right part of the reaction scheme, we present the fully saturated aliphatic organic compounds. Most of these molecules have been observed in the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. The heavy molecules whose identifications are still lacking are marked with asterisks. It should be noted that UVphotolysis and cosmic ray processing of fully saturated aliphatic compounds result in their efficient dehydrogenation. The high saturation degree of the detected aliphatic compounds hints at their partial formation through surface hydrogenation mechanisms (Altwegg et al. 2017; Schuhmann et al. 2019; Hänni et al. 2021, 2022, 2023). The image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko is taken by ESA Rosetta on September 2, 2014. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

Production of Linear Alkanes via the Solid-state Hydrogenation of Interstellar Polyynes

by Keith CowingJanuary 12, 2025January 11, 2025

Highly unsaturated carbon chains, including polyynes, have been detected in many astronomical regions and planetary systems.

Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko — ESA

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

A Nearly Terrestrial D/H For Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

by Keith CowingDecember 12, 2024

Cometary comae are a mixture of gas and ice-covered dust. Processing on the surface and in the coma change the composition of ice on dust grains relative to that of […]

This is an artist’s impression of a young star surrounded by a disk of gas and dust. An international team of astronomers has used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to study the disk around a young and very low-mass star known as ISO-ChaI 147. The results reveal the richest hydrocarbon chemistry seen to date in a protoplanetary disk. NASA/JPL-Caltech

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Press Release

Webb Finds Plethora of Carbon Molecules Around Young Star

by Keith CowingJune 6, 2024June 6, 2024

An international team of astronomers has used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to study the disk of gas and dust around a young, very low-mass star. The results reveal the […]

TPD measurement of H2O, CO2, CO, and O2 in the ratio 60:20:10:10, respectively, with a heating rate of 0.5 K min−1 (Gudipati et al. 2023). For CO also the residual signal has been derived, i.e., after subtraction of the contribution by fragmentation of CO2. The experiment also tracked the chamber background species N, a fragment of N2. The two vertical lines separate the three temperature regimes introduced in Table 1. The portions released in the three temperature ranges are listed in Table 3. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Volatiles In The H2O and CO2 Ices Of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko

by Keith CowingOctober 9, 2023October 9, 2023

ESA’s Rosetta spacecraft at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) was the first mission that accompanied a comet over a substantial fraction of its orbit.

Astrochemistry, Comets and Asteroids, Press Release

Abundant Ammonium Hydrosulphide Embedded In Cometary Dust Grains

by Keith CowingSeptember 4, 2022September 4, 2022

Ammonium hydrosulphide has long since been postulated to exist at least in certain layers of the giant planets. Its radiation products may be the reason for the red colour seen […]