As comets contain a large number of organic molecules, they are the small bodies of the Solar System with the highest content in carbonaceous matter explored to date. Since the comet 1P/Halley exploration era in 1986, a broad diversity of volatile compounds have been detected in their atmosphere and the dark color of their nucleus is often regarded as a sign of the presence of complex carbonaceous material.<br/>Not only the nature and amount of organic matter in comets could have played a crucial role in the origin of life on Earth, but they also most certainly point towards the Physico-chemical processes that were prevailing at the time of their formation in the protoplanetary nebula, or even before if comets have incorporated to some extent material directly inherited from our native molecular cloud.<br/>The exploration of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko (67P) by the Rosetta spacecraft between 2014 and 2016 has considerably expanded our knowledge about the composition of comets. The details of the organic content of comet 67P are progressively revealed by the complementary measurements of ROSINA, VIRTIS, and COSIMA instruments on the orbiter. A few years after the end of the mission, we will make an inventory of the organic molecules that have been identified at the comet, both in the gaseous phase or as a dust component, and derive a carbon budget in the nucleus. What was expected and observed, unexpected and observed, and also what was expected but not observed, are keys for a consistent scenario about the origin of the organic matter in comet 67P and how it has been incorporated into the nucleus. The nature of the volatile compounds in their broad diversity observed in the gaseous phase, and the macromolecular organic material dominating the refractory component, seem to point to distinct sources of organic matter that were incorporated into the nucleus of the comet when it formed some 4.5 billion years ago.

Organic matter in comet 67P: low and high molecular weight molecules

Macromolecular Chemistry: The Second Century

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ACS Spring 2020 National Meeting & Expo

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.