Journal
EARTH MOON AND PLANETS
Volume 105, Issue 2-4, Pages 267-272Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11038-009-9293-z
Keywords
Comets; Radio spectroscopy; Space exploration
Funding
- Division Of Astronomical Sciences
- Direct For Mathematical & Physical Scien [838261] Funding Source: National Science Foundation
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A fundamental question in cometary science is whether the different dynamical classes of comets have different chemical compositions, which would reflect different initial conditions. From the ground or Earth orbit, radio and infrared spectroscopic observations of a now significant sample of comets indeed reveal deep differences in the relative abundances of cometary ices. However, no obvious correlation with dynamical classes is found. Further results come, or are expected, from space exploration. Such investigations, by nature limited to a small number of objects, are unfortunately focussed on short-period comets (mainly Jupiter-family). But these in situ studies provide ground truth for remote sensing. We discuss the chemical differences in comets from our database of spectroscopic radio observations, which has been recently enriched by several Jupiter-family and Halley-type comets.
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